Kingdom Hearts II: Shadows of Hearts
by Akurei-Shinzo
Summary: With Sora gone, Riku must now take his place to defend the world against the invasion of the Heartless. What is the accursed Plague? And what is it's connection with Sora's disappearance?
1. Prologue to Darkness

Akurei-Shinzo: Hi! This is my first Kingdom Hearts fic so go easy on me! Also I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Prologue to Darkness

A brown, spiky haired boy stood alone in the darkness. It seemed as though he was alone and was stuck on a floating island shaped as an x. His name was Sora, he stared up into the dark sky, more stars began to fall from it.

"What's going on?" he asked the shadows. Realizing that he was alone he began to observe his surroundings. "Donald? Goofy?"

The shadows began to grow darker, the wind howled and moaned, and Sora was blown backwards into the shadows of darkness.

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"Riku! Get out of here now!" shouted King Mickey. The mouse was fighting off massive swarms of little black shadow Heartless that began to multiply by the hundreds! A boy about the age of sixteen with silver hair and sea blue/green eyes wearing a gray raincoat turned and looked back at the king.

"But, what about you?" Riku asked the mouse. There was no answer, Kingdom Hearts was almost completely swallowed in darkness. Riku had no choice and fled from the oncoming shadows.

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He had been running for some time now, trying to outrun the shadows that followed him. It seem that Riku would be consumed once again by the darkness. But before the shadows got to him a bright light filled the area. Riku put his hand up to block the light from blinding him. When the light faded he looked around his surroundings, it was a sandy island surrounded by an ocean, like Destiny Islands, but a lot darker and more mysterious. This was defiantly not, Kingdom Hearts.

Upon closer inspection of the island, it's trees looked like whale-rib-bones, with no leaves whatsoever. The moon was the only source of light, and it's reflection on the water made it seem brighter than it really was. There was an eerie feeling in this area, Riku turned his attention from the moon to the figure near the dark waters. That guy wasn't there before, he had pale white cat ears and a tail so that meant he wasn't a human.

When Riku approached him, the guy turned around to face him, his white hair was blown carelessly in the wind, causing his face to be partly covered. The only feature of his face Riku remembered seeing was the brightly flashing amber eyes, which glistened in the moonlight. Judging from his looks he appeared to be seventeen.

The island began to shake, and the trees came crashing down. Riku could hardly stand up and the guy before him was standing still as though nothing had happened! Riku looked directly into the flashing eyes of the boy before him. Something about them made him think that they held a sad memory or a terrible knowledge, like that boy was the cause of some great disaster. A gigantic tidal wave was about to wash down upon them, and still the boy didn't budge! Before the waters crashed down upon them Riku heard him say,

"Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…"

After that the wave came down to the ground, swallowing everything in it's path. Riku fought against the currents, but was swept away into the darkness. Then, out of nowhere, two Keyblades appeared in his hands, one metallic black, the other a metallic silver. Their light swallowed the darkness, but then darkness returned swallowed the light once more.

Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

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Akurei-Shinzo: So what do you think so far? Again please R&R! I hoped you enjoyed it! More soon to come! (If you want you can suggest some anime/manga to be in this fic)

Note: That mystery person is my favorite character from one of my series, you'll hear more about him as the story progresses.


	2. Welcome to Shin City

Akurei-Shinzo: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 2! Hope you enjoy it! Also I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Oh, and the mystery character? I'm not telling! That is, until I feel like it! (Sticks out tongue) So keep reading!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 1: Welcome to Shin City!

Riku groaned and blinked his opened, above him was some sort of strange light. Not light from a candle, but it was in the ceiling. He had seen in in various worlds he had visited but he never knew what they really were. He closed his eyes again and sat up in the bed, when he opened them again a pair of crystal blue eyes stared into his sea colored ones.

The stare startled Riku for a while, but after getting over the shock he discovered that the eyes belonged to an eleven year old girl. Her hazel colored hair was tied back neatly into a ponytail and her eyes looked worriedly at him.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked the young girl.

"Yeah, just a little surprised that's all…" said Riku. The girl smiled at him, for some reason this smile reminded him of Kairi's smile. It was both sweet and innocent.

"Well since you're awake I guess we can get acquainted. My name is Amaya, Amaya Akiyama."

"Riku."

"No last name?"

"What's a last name?"

"Oh yeah, you're from another world! I guess your world doesn't have last names does it?"

"Yeah…wait! How do you know I'm from another world?!"

"That's easy, the heartless have been devouring worlds again. Right now there are fewer survivors coming here. I'm a survivor myself, I escaped my world with Satoru and Hitomi. You'll meet them later probably."

"But, weren't the Heartless defeated already by the Keybearer?"

"Yes, it's been a year of peace, but that Keybearer has vanished now."

"He's what?" asked Riku.

"Gone, like the first Keybearer, King Mickey. We don't really know what has happened to both of them. So the Heartless are back."

Riku looked back down at the bed coverings. Sora and King Mickey have both vanished? He saw King Mickey disappear in a cloud of Heartless, but what happened to Sora? What had happened in the past year while being trapped within Kingdom Hearts? Amaya must have saw his worried face.

"Is something wrong?" she questioned him in a quiet, peaceful tone.

"No, but who's going to stop the Heartless?"

"The true Keyblade Master of course, don't you know the legend? There is suppose to be a Keybearer that bears two Keyblades. He's the one who's suppose to stop them."

Riku remained silent, that Keybearer couldn't be him. It just can't be. Why would it choose someone that had once given themselves to the darkness so easily?

"By the way, welcome to Shin City."

"Shin City?"

"Shin means heart, didn't you know?"

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Dr. Shuichiro was a kind doctor, he was around the age twenty-one with raven hair and dark eyes. Amaya had told him that the doctor would offer him a place to stay if he had asked so now he was rooming with two angels, Kohaku and Hisui, two devils, Koryu and Kokuyo, and Koryu's servants Ruri and Hari. There was also a couple of other guests in the building, but they chose to keep to themselves. Shuichiro had said not to get near them while they were in a heated argument, which happened around every five seconds.

Riku sat on the bed and the two Keyblades materialized in his hands. Why did he receive them? Why did they choose him? His thoughts were disturbed when a rock came flying out of the wall and angry voices followed. 'This is good time to get out for a walk' thought Riku. Making the Keyblades disappear he got up and left the house.

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The rain came in sheets and buckets now, Riku's boots splashed in the rain as he continued to walk down the streets that had tall buildings on both sides. Their lights were a bright neon color and they light the way as Riku walked towards a sky scrapper. Why had he come here? It was as though he was drawn there. He looked up and saw Kairi's face on the screen at the top of the building. 'Kairi?' thought Riku. What was she doing there? 

Also, on the top of the building was another person, a boy about Riku's age. He too, had silver hair that came to his shoulders. The boy wore a black jacket and for some strange reason, a blindfold over his eyes. If he could see, then he would be staring down at Riku.

Riku quickly turned his attention to the multiples of Heartless that began to grow out of the ground and surround him. Riku whipped out the two Keyblades and spun them around, ready to take down all of the Heartless. The boy on the sky scrapper looked up into the sky and raised both arms, the clouds parted as the stars began to fall at an incredibly rate. Since the stars represented each world that meant the worlds' hearts were dying! An outline of a heart surrounded Riku, driving back several surprised Heartless. Could that boy have some sort of connection with the Heartless?

"Where's Sora?" asked Riku. He had a feeling that this stranger had some clues to where his friend might be. The stranger didn't answer, so Riku asked another question. "Who are you?"

"The source of all Heartless," the boy replied in a dark, emotionless voice. Then the Heartless began to advance towards Riku, Riku charged through the Heartless at used both Keyblades to cut away at the shadows. They were small Heartless, a mixture of a Shadow and the Darkside Heartless. After amputating several Heartless' heads from their bodies, Riku paused to look up at the boy.

The stranger continued to stare in Riku's direction, Riku then jumped past all the Heartless and began to run up the building, cutting away at any Heartless that stood between him and the other boy. But even as some Heartless fell, others took their place. As Riku nearly reached the top of the building the boy jumped from the top of the building. As he past Riku while he was falling he smirked at him and fell into the darkness created by the Heartless. With that, the 'source of all Heartless' disappeared into the shadows.

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Riku stood alone in the rain, there was nothing that remained of that boy or the Heartless in the street. Then he heard flapping above him, he looked up to see a phoenix land before him. It was crimson with golden feathers running from it's head through the back of it's neck. It's emerald eyes shone brightly in the night. Then from the alleyway came a gigantic wolf, it was a silver color, and it had a sky blue gemstone on it's forehead. The wolf's golden eyes where like two full moons. With a flash of light the creatures were immediately transformed into two boys.

Where the phoenix stood there was now a boy about Riku's age, he had raven hair and emerald green eyes. He wore a dark jacket, white shirt, and jeans. The wolf had seemed to turn into a boy about the same age as the other one, and he had long sky-blue hair. His golden eyes remained the same and he also still had wolf ears and a tail. He wore a black kimono and had one left wing that was silver. Also, he had a katana that was sheathed at the moment.

"So, you're the Keyblade Master," said the phoenix. "You're right all along Hitomi."

"I told you so, Ryuseiu," said Hitomi. Ryuseiu shot a glare at him.

"When I'm in my human form call me Satoru."

"Aren't you the guys Amaya was talking about?" asked Riku. The two of them turned to face Riku.

"Yeah," said Ryuseiu/Satoru.

"What about it?" asked Hitomi.

"Could you answer some of my questions?" asked Riku.

"Yes and no," replied Hitomi.

"We may have the ability to answer your questions, but we're not the ones you should ask," said Satoru, his eyes flashing.

"Then who should I ask?" asked Riku.

Before he even finished asking the question the two boys transformed back into their previous forms and disappeared into the stormy night, leaving Riku alone with his thoughts and questions…

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Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

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Akurei-Shinzo: So how do you like it? So far the only known manga I have here is Wish. Amaya, Ryuseiu/Satoru, and Hitomi are all from my story Ryuseiu-The Phoenix Rises. I hope you're enjoying the fanfic so far! Please R&R! More to this story will be revealed, just be patient and review! (Ryuseiu is going to be another story I put up later) Also, just to let you know I made up that city, Shin City. Shin means heart in Chinese and Japanese! Oh, and the mystery character will be mentioned in the next few chapters. Can you guess who he is?


	3. New Allies

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm back! So how have you all liked my story? Thanks for the reviews! Here's the third chapter! Enjoy! Also I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 2: New Allies

Riku slowly made his way back to Dr. Shuichiro's place, he was deep in thought about what Ryuseiu had said to him earlier that night. _We have the ability to answer your questions, but we're not the ones you should ask_… If he shouldn't ask them his questions then who should he? While deep in thought Riku did not see whatever it was he tripped over while walking and thinking.

"Ow!" moaned Riku getting up and rubbing his head. He got up and looked at whatever it was he'd tripped over. "Ah! I'm sorry! Are you alright?!"

Riku had tripped over a boy about fifteen years old, he had multi-colored spiky hair with golden lighting bolt stripes. He couldn't see his eyes since the boy was laying face-down on the mud. Riku, not knowing what else to do, picked up the boy and put the boy's arm over him, and began to drag him off towards Dr. Shuichiro's home.

After fussing over the other boy for a few minutes, Hisui and Kohaku put him in a room next to Riku's and left Riku to watch over him. After several hours the boy opened his eyes, they were a dark crimson color that made him look a lot older than he appeared to be. Then Riku noticed the strange necklace he was wearing, it was a golden pyramid shaped puzzle with a strange eye on it.

"Are you alright?" asked Riku.

"Yes, but where am I?" questioned the boy.

"You're in Shin City," said Riku. "Did the Heartless destroy your world?" The other boy didn't answer immediately, it seemed as though he was deep in thought, thinking whether or not to tell Riku what had happened to him.

"Yes," he said after a few minutes. "They did… I'm not really sure what has happened afterwards." Riku suspected he was lying about what the boy had said about not remembering what had happened to him after the Heartless came. But he decided not to ask, it wasn't really his business anyways.

"My name's Riku"

"And I'm Yami."

Before the two did anything else another guest rushed into their room and slammed the door. He looked to be the seventeen, with short, midnight hair and had sapphire eyes. He motioned for them to keep quiet and he kept his ear to the door, yelling and feet running past the hallway killed the silence and after they had gone the boy let out a sigh.

"Whew! That was close!" he sighed. "Damn you Shiro and Zeero! Leaving my to pick up the pieces!" He turned towards the two confused boys. "Thanks for not giving me away. My name's Daichi, and you two are?"

"Riku."

"Yami"

"Well, anyway, mind if I hide here for a while? Katana, Arisu, and Katsuro are going to kill me if I don't give out any information, but I was told to keep that information a secret, until the Keybearer arrives at least!"

"Who are they?" asked Riku.

"Katana's a demon huntress, Arisu is a regular human, and Katsuro, he's a spirit-demon mix. They've been asking me where those three (Shiro, Ryu, and Katsu (some friends of mine)) are since they've disappeared. Darn! Why couldn't they harass Zeero for the answers?! Oh, wait! He's guarding the Keyhole…and won't come out of hiding…"

"Keyhole?" asked Riku with sudden interest. Then out of nowhere, the two Keyblades appeared in Riku's hands. Daichi's eyes lit up with interest.

"So you're the Keyblade Master! Thank goodness you're here! Now they can finally stop harassing me!" said Daichi with relief.

"Keyblade Master?" asked Yami.

"The Keyblade Master is the one who's job is suppose to travel the worlds and destroy the Heartless," explained Daichi. "It is also said in the legend that he wreaks havoc upon the worlds or he can bring salvation."

"Travels the worlds…" whispered Yami, deep in thought. Riku wondered why Yami was so deep in thought about traveling the worlds. Could he have been looking for someone?

"Come with me," said Daichi opening the door. "If I'm going to explain things to you all I might as well explain some things to my other friends as well. The sooner I explain all of this the sooner they can stop harassing me for answers!"

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Katana was a sixteen year old girl with long ebony hair tied back into a ponytail and she wore a kimono. Her eyes were a gentle violet color though they looked like they could turn from gentle to violent at any given moment. Arisu sat next to her in the room, her brown hair fell loosely on her shoulders and her blue eyes stared at the new guests entering the room, she too wore a kimono but the sleeves were cut off. Katsuro sat by himself in the corner, his emerald eyes glared at Riku and Yami and his golden hair was an inch away from his shoulders. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and white pants, something about him made Riku and Yami want to avoid him, it was probably the death glare he gave everyone.

"Uh, hi," started Daichi in a nervous tone, smoothing out his hair. "I guess you'll be wanting an explanation?" Katsuro was the first to jump on him.

"Alright you! Where's my little brother already!" yelled Katsuro eyes ablaze, he grabbed Daichi's shirt collar.

"Yeah, enough with the secrets already!" screamed Arisu.

"You'd better start explaining things!" growled Katana, who was about to punch the lights out of Daichi. The door slid open and another girl entered the room, she had light pink hair and shining violet eyes. She too, was wearing a kimono, the only thing that told them she wasn't human was her fox ears and fox tail.

"Would anyone like some tea?" she asked sweetly.

"I would!!!" gasped Daichi, he seemed to be relieved that she came in at that moment. "Great timing, Yuri!"

"Are you four in an argument again?" she asked. Then she noticed Riku and Yami, standing away from all of the commotion and looking very confused. "Oh, I'm so sorry, would you two like some tea?"

"Uh…sure," said Riku nervously glancing at Katsuro, Arisu, and Katana who were giving Daichi the death glare again.

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After calming down, (though Katsuro still gave everyone the death glare) Daichi began the slow process of explaining the legend of the Keybearer. He explained that the Keybearer could either bring salvation or destruction among the worlds he travels with his key. Now that the other the Keybearers have vanished, Riku was to assume the position as the Keyblade Master, lock the Keyholes, and destroy the Heartless.

"So that's why we're here," concluded Daichi. "Shiro asked me and Zeero if we could help out this Keybearer on his quest. And he also explained that we should meet him here and protect this world from the Heartless."

"Yeah, but that still doesn't answer our first question," snarled Katsuro. "Where's my little brother Katsu and the other two?"

"That…is a secret!" said Daichi. Then he ran out of the room followed by Katsuro, Arisu, and Katana pounding him with questions and rocks. Yuri sighed and turned to face Riku and Yami.

"If you want some answers seek out Zeero," she whispered.

"Who is Zeero?" asked Riku.

"We've heard about him, but haven't seen him," said Yami.

"That's because he's afraid that those three would pound him with questions like they're doing to Daichi right now. You'll find him near the Keyhole to this world, Shiro has asked him to guard it, though I'm not sure Zeero's the best demon for it. He's very silly most of the time."

"How do we find the Keyhole?" asked Riku. Yuri got up and was about to leave.

"Your Keyblade should lead you to it, don't mind Zeero's silliness, he knows a lot more that what he seems to know. I think he could answer most of your questions." Yuri left and Riku and Yami were left alone in the room. This was the first time the room had been silent since they came here.

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"Are you sure you want to come with me?" asked Riku. Yami had insisted that he aid Riku through his travels around the worlds.

"Yes, if I travel with you I might be able to find…someone I know…" Yami stopped short and remained silent. Who was he looking for? Riku figured that he would find out soon enough. Besides, with Sora and King Mickey missing he'll need all the help he can get.

"Alright then," said Riku opening the front door. "Let's go find that Keyhole!" The two walked into the darkness, not knowing what fate had in store for both of them

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Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

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Akurei-Shinzo: So how do you like that chapter! Please R&R! I promise to add more anime/manga as soon as the story progresses! Daichi, Yuri, Katana, Arisu, Katsuro, Katsu (you'll meet later on), Ryu (you'll meet later on), and Shiro (you'll meet later on) are all from my manga Youkai Shinzo (translated-Demon Heart). Zeero is also from that manga and I have to warn you that he's been claimed by one of my friends that will not like it if you try to steal him from her. Just a warning! Please R&R! I'm hoping to get it published one day!


	4. Search of the Keyhole

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm back! Thank you for the reviews! I hope you're enjoying this fic! I'll be adding more anime/manga in here soon so bear with me! Also I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 3: Search of the Keyhole

Riku and Yami walked the in rain, they were both drenched and very cold. There was still no sign of the Keyhole or the demon called Zeero. The rain began to come down harder on them, so they decided to postpone their search and take shelter in a nearby shop. The neon sing that blinked on and off in the rain read Tamers' Items Shop. So they opened the door and rushed inside.

Inside the bright room were three kids and three strange creatures. The boy near the store counter had blue eyes and yellow goggles in his messy brown hair. His badge read Takato. The other boy had dark blue/black hair and green eyes, his badge read Henry. The girl had light brown hair tied back into a high ponytail and her amethyst eyes shined in the light, her badge read Rika.

"Hey! It's about time we've got some customers!" chirped Takato. A red dinosaur with black marks approached them.

"They smell weird," it commented.

"That's not polite Guilmon!" shouted Takato.

"Sorry about him," said Henry gesturing to Guilmon. "Can we help you with anything?"

"Sorry, we're just here to get out of the rain," muttered Riku.

"Momentai!" said a little white bunny with small horns and green stripes. "Hey folks! I'm Terriermon! So you're not going to buy anything?"

"Well, if you need anything later you're free to come back," said Rika.

"What do you sell here?" asked Yami.

"We sell potions, ethers, and other items a fighter might need," said the fox creature standing by the wall. She had yellow and white fur with gloves, her sapphire eyes glowed in the shadows.

"We don't carry weapons though, but like Renamon said, we carry everything a fighter might need, except for weapons," said Rika.

"If you need weapons there is a shop not far from here," said Takato.

"How did you lose your world?" asked Yami.

"Well, I'm not really sure," said Takato trying to remember what had happened to them. "I remember now! We were fighting in the Digital World with our Digimon and then these shadows came and destroyed everything!"

"Shadows?" asked Yami.

"I think they were called Heartless," said Henry.

"What are Digimon?" asked Riku.

"We're Digimon," chirped Guilmon.

"Digital Monsters to be exact," concluded Renamon.

"Well, thanks for your help," said Riku as he and Yami prepared to leave the store. "We'll drop by again later."

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"This storm doesn't seem to want to stop," said Riku. The rain had continued on since their stop at the Digimon Tamers' store.

"Why don't we stop and take a look at that store," suggested Yami pointing to a weapons shop.The two rushed in soaked and cold, inside the room was a woman about twenty years old.

"Can I help you?" she asked. "My name is Presea."

"No we're just looking," said Riku checking out the store. Almost all of the walls were covered by weapons.

"Each of these weapons are a custom job," explained Presea. "So really, you don't choose the weapon, the weapon chooses you."

"What?" asked Riku, confused.

"I think she means that each person has a special type of weapon only they can use," said Yami.

"Bingo!" shouted Presea. "For that allow me to award you with a weapon of your choice. Go ahead you two, you can choose a weapon. It's on the house!"

Riku didn't really need a new weapon, but he looked around the store anyways. Yami got himself a pair of leather bracers. He had said something about focusing his magic because it came from, what was it? Some type of realm… Riku peered around the cluster of weapons and saw two doors in the back. 'Where did they lead to?' thought Riku.

"If you need anything else please feel free to come again!" chirped Presea in a happy tone.

"Thank you, we will," said Riku.

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"We've searched this whole town and still didn't find the Keyhole!" complained Riku. The rain had not stopped yet and the two boys were in the shade of a bus stop. They had searched the hotel and talked to several survivors, but they gave little information about themselves and the worlds they had come from. "At this rate I'll never find Sora or King Mickey!"

"Maybe you should use your Keyblade," suggested Yami. Yami didn't know who Sora or King Mickey were, but he figured he would learn later on.

"Huh?"

"Yuri said that your Keyblade should lead us to the Keyhole. Well I say it's a good time to try it out."

"Alright then, here goes nothing!"

Riku drew out both of his Keyblades, they glowed and eerie pale white color before beams of light came out of the ends. The lines zoomed through the alleyways and lead the way towards the Keyhole located in a rundown temple.

The two ran down the alleyways, following the light. It took them a good half-hour before they reached the temple. They saw the Keyhole, a hole of darkness with light outlining it. Before Riku could seal it up, something knocked him down. When he got up he saw a Heartless jump from shadow to shadow before materializing in front of him. Riku unsheathed his Keyblades and Yami pulled out a few cards. 'What are those cards for?' thought Riku. He was hoping they were useful because this Heartless seemed a lot more powerful then the one he had fought earlier when he meant the 'source of all heartless'.

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Meanwhile in a dark, dimly lighted room, the 'source of all Heartless' watched Riku on a screen. The boy smirked as he watched Riku and Yami prepare to face off against the Shadow Crawler, one of his favorite Heartless. The Shadow Crawler had many abilities other than fusing with shadows, but Riku may not live long enough to face them.

"Well, this will be interesting," he said. "A Keybearer who doesn't even trust his own heart fighting a Heartless." The boy turned to face another boy, who was lying on a table in a coma. "What makes you think that you can save your friends and the entire universe if you can't even trust your own heart? The worlds will all fall into the darkness and there's nothing you can do to stop it!"

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Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

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Akurei-Shinzo: Hope you liked it! Wish, Yu-gi-oh!, Digimon 3, and Magic Knights Rayearth! More to come, so keep reading! You're about to see Zeero and learn who mysterious person from the prologue is! So keep the reviews coming and I'll keep the chapters coming! Please R&R! 

P.S- I'll explain why Riku owns two Keyblades other than it was in the secret ending. I would try to play through the expert mode, but this girl is hooked on .hack//Infection! Not so good graphics but it's still fun to play!

P.P.S- Everyone must worship demons for they shall take over the world!

P.P.P.S- Sorry if this was a boring chapter! It'll get better! (Once my eight grade graduation is over! Then I can concentrate more on this!)


	5. Zeero the FoxDemon

Akurei-Shinzo: Hello! So how do you like this story so far!? Zeero, a special guest from my story (which I haven't posted yet) Youkai Shinzo. He plays a crucial role in this story and he can act very stupid. I bet you all (which haven't read my story) can't find out the secret behind my Youkai Shinzo characters. It's a secret that I bet none of you will suspect! But to discover what it is you must keep reading! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 4: Zeero the Fox-Demon

"Doesn't this thing ever come out of the shadows?" asked Yami who was frustrated on where to concentrate his magic on. The Heartless kept jumping from shadow to shadow, refusing to fight head on. Instead it just kept popping out of the shadows and attacked with magic.

"I don't believe it!" muttered Riku. "It's toying with us!"

"Then let's bring it to the light!" shouted Yami dodging a blast form the Heartless.

"How?!"

"With this! Dark Piercing Light!" Yami head up a cark up high. The room's shadows were reduced to only three shadows, their own and the Heartless who held it's arms up over it's eyes.

"Gotcha!" Riku charged at it with both Keyblades. He jumped over it and brought the Keyblades over the beast. "What?" The Heartless had split into two, but then it began to multiply and soon the whole room was covered in heartless! "That's unfair! How are we going to beat it now?"

"We should find the source of all this and destroy it!" suggested Yami pulling out a few more cards. "Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl! Attack!"

'Find the source of the Heartless?' thought Riku as he tried to get rid of the oncoming onslaught of Heartless. Riku fought through the wall of Heartless, but they still multiplied by the tens and hundreds! 'What am I suppose to do?!' Then he noticed a Heartless avoid battle, it was different from the other miniature Shadow Crawlers. It had a silver gem stone on it's chest.

"I bet you're the source!" shouted Riku charging at the Heartless. It disappeared and was replaced by other heartless. "Yami! Distract them while find the source!"

"Alright!"

While Yami and his Duel Monsters were keeping the other Heartless busy, Riku snuck around them and spotted the source.

"This time you won't escape!" shouted Riku as he lunged at the Heartless with the Keyblades. The thing didn't know what had hit it, the source disappeared in a cloud of smoke and dust along with the other Heartless, leaving the silver sphere in the Heartless's dust. Riku bent over and picked up the strange sphere.

"What's that?" asked Yami calling back his monsters.

"I'm not sure…"

Both Riku and Yami then turned their attention to the Keyhole, which was glittering on the wall. Riku's black Keyblade glowed and then a beam of light came from it, locking the Keyhole making a clicking sound. Slowly the Keyhole vaporized and then there was no trace left of it.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" yelled another voice. Riku and Yami turned to see an eighteen year old boy fall from the railing of the second floor. He landed with a great boom and his eyes turned into a pair of swirls (@_@) "I'm okay…and 1+1=11!"

"Who's he?" asked Riku as the strange boy began to stagger around the room like a drunk.

"No, idea…" replied Yami.

"Oh great, you don't think…"

"That can't be him!"

While Riku and Yami were discussing who this boy might be, the guy shook his head, making his dark brown hair get messed up, to get his sense to return. His bright yellowish eyes looked at the wall where the Keyhole was.

"Yip! Where's the Keyhole!? Oh man I'm in hot water!" he squealed. "If Shiro finds out that I'd failed guarding it then…oh boy what to do what to do! At times like this there is only one thing to do! Run around in huge circles and scream for mommy! MMMMMOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!" After running around in circles for a while, he ran smack into a column, and he fell onto the ground with the same silly look again (@_@). Riku and Yami rushed to his side and stood over him.

"Are you alright?" asked Riku uncertainly. Even if this guy was okay he wouldn't be able to tell. It seemed as though this guy had some mental issues! The guy suddenly sat straight up, his fox ears jumped up in alert and his fox-like tail wagged back and forth in delight.

"Oh, hi! I haven't seen humans around here for a long time! How'd you get here anyways?"

"We followed my Keyblades."

"Keyblades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're the Keybearer!? Well, that's good! By the way, what happened to the Keyhole?"

"I locked it."

"Oh, so that's where it went! Okay! I'm not in trouble! By the way, the name's Zeero!" ^_^

"Zeero?!" shouted Riku and Yami in surprise. Yuri had said that he was suppose to be a silly person, but this guy?! A guy who runs and circles and screams for mommy?!

"What?" asked the fox, tilting his ears, one down and one up in a confused manner. "What's wrong with my name?"

"Uh, never mind…" muttered Riku. Then he remembered the sphere he had gotten from the Heartless. "What's this?"

"Where'd you get that?!" asked the fox-demon, grabbing the sphere.

"We got it when we defeated the Shadow Crawler," explained Yami.

"So what's it for?" asked Riku.

"Hmmm, I can tell you, but only when you prove that you're suited for this power," replied Zeero.

"How am I suppose to do that?!"

"There's a ship somewhere in this town called the Outlaw Star. Seal the Keyhole that is somewhere in the ship and then I'll answer your questions!"

"Why can't you answer them now?" asked Yami.

"Because I want to see if you two trust your hearts enough. If your hearts aren't strong enough for this sort of power why waste explaining it on you?" With that, Zeero transformed into a five-tailed fox and leapt out of a nearby window into the night.

"What do we do now?" asked Yami.

"What else can we do? Find that ship and seal the Keyhole, then we can get some answers."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Zeero watched from a nearby building while Riku and Yami searched for the Outlaw Star. His ears perked up when he heard some rustling in the shadows.

"Hey Shiro, what are you doing in the shadows?"

The amber eyes in the shadows looked surprised when his name was called. For a moment he considered about leaving the shadows, but then retreated back into them again.

"I didn't know you'd sense me, if I did then I wouldn't have come."

"Why? What's with all the mysteriousness?"

"Zeero, I want you to do me a favor…"

"But I'm already doing one, I suppose to give that Keybearer some answers!"

"Yes, but I want you to follow him while he's on his journey…"

"Why?"

"I want you to make sure he doesn't give in to the darkness again…"

"Alright, alright! I'll do it. But I'd better be getting some alcohol after all this!"

"Zeero…"

"What?"

"Don't give away the secret, Sonraku's secret… It may cause a lot trouble and may break the Keybearer's trust with you…"

"Our world's secret?"There was no answer, the amber eyes were gone from the shadows. That left Zeero alone again. "Typical, Shiro gives you some advice, acts all mysterious, and then poof! He's gone! Oh well…"

Zeero notice that Riku and Yami were almost out of his sight, so he leapt onto one building after another. Silently stalking the two boys. 'I can't believe that this Keybearer doesn't even trust his own heart! What kind of Keybearer is that?!' thought Zeero.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Riku?" asked Yami turning to his friend who had paused to look at the top of a building.

"Huh? It's nothing…"

__

Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

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Akurei_Shinzo: Hope you liked the chapter! Sorry if it isn't so good. I'm really tired now! Please R&R and good-night!


	6. Onboard the Outlaw Star: Part 1

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm back! Did you miss me? I hope you all are enjoying the fanfic so far! Okay, so the plot thickens now, but to find out more about what is going on in the worlds you have to keep on reading! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 5: Onboard the Outlaw Star (Part 1)

"I wonder what kind of ship Zeero was talking about…" thought Yami aloud.

"How many types of ships are there?" asked Riku. "And what would one be doing on land anyways? Wouldn't they all be in the ocean?"

"I think he means a spaceship."

"What's a spaceship?"

"Never mind…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"We've been searching for hours!" moaned Riku. It was true, the moon was about to set. Then the two saw a group of people, they appeared to be trying to enter a red …spaceship?!

"I think we've found the ship…" said Yami. The two boys ran over the group.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Riku.

"Gene is trapped in the ship! And there are some weird shadows things trapped inside too!" exclaimed a white haired girl with cat-like ears. Here green eyes showed a bit of fear within them.

"Why can't you all get in?" questioned Yami.

"We've tried, but something keeps preventing us from entering," said a short sandy haired boy.

"Can you help us?" asked a dark hair girl. For some reason, Riku got the feeling that she wasn't really a human.

"Sure, but how do we get in?" Riku asked.

"Use the Keyblade…" spoke a mysterious voice. After hearing that statement the silver Keyblade materialized in his hand and then, pointing it a part of the ship, Riku blasted a small doorway through the wall.

"Let's go!" shouted Riku jumping into the ship, Yami following close behind. Before the other three could enter the ship, wires formed a wall around the hole and healed the ship!

"Now what do we do?" asked Jim.

"I guess we just sit around," said Aisha.

"It's almost like someone was trying to keep us out…" said Melfina softly.

"That's because someone is," said a voice from behind. The three looked up to see a fox-demon sitting on top of the Outlaw Star. "This is a test to see whether the Keybearer's heart is strong enough for a certain type of power. I suggest you don't interfere…" With that, the demon vanished into a cloud of mist and fog.

_ Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: Hope you liked the chapter! Sorry if it isn't so good. I'm really tired now! This is only part one, the reason I don't want to write the entire chapter now is because I'm tired from the activities at school! We went to a ranch and had a picnic and I saw my IPC teacher give two boys a wedgie!! So long! Please R&R and be one the lookout for the other parts of this chapter!


	7. Onboard the Outlaw Star: Part 2

Akurei-Shinzo: Hey what's up? Eight Grade graduation is both sad and great! A whole night of dancing and a sleepover at a friend's place! Well, here's the continuation of the other chapter! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 5: Onboard the Outlaw Star (Part 2)

"Riku! The wall's sealed up!" shouted Yami looking back at the entrance which had been sealed up. The two boys rushed back and tried to make another opening in the wall.

"Stand back," warned Riku holding out the silver Keyblade. "I'm going to try to use my Keyblade again." Riku held the Keyblade up high, but nothing happened. "What? Why isn't anything happening?"

"Maybe some kind of force is preventing you from reopening the entrance."

"I knew that, let's see if we can find that person called Gene."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The two boys searched several rooms of the ship, but they saw no one. There were a couple of Shadow Heartless, but they took them down no problem. As they walked down a hallway, Riku spotted a shadow, it seemed to go into another room.

"Riku?" asked Yami, bringing his friend back into the present.

"I think we should check out that room down the hall."

"Right!"

A pair of yellowish eyes glowed within the shadows as it watched the two rush down the hall to the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Whoa!" exclaimed Riku, the metallic silver Keyblade had suddenly appeared in his hand and it began to glow once more. A beam of light appeared from the end of it and hit the door. Both Riku and Yami heard a click as if the Keyblade had opened the door. They shrugged and Riku opened the door.

"Run!" shouted a human voice. Gunshots rang and echoed inside the room, a red-haired man leapt from behind a machine to another one trying to avoid the wires that were trying to wrap themselves around him.

"Where?" asked Yami. Riku looked behind them, just their luck, the door was shut and there was no way out! The two dodged another onslaught of wires and hid with the guy behind a machine.

"Are you Gene?" asked Riku.

"Yeah, nice to meet you to!" he shouted as he fired his blaster again. "What is that thing made out of?!" Riku and Yami glanced over their 'shield' and saw a heartless. It seemed to be connected to the computer, and was in the shape of a woman. Only she was all black with glowing emotionless yellow eyes and had a Heartless mark on her. They ducked down in time to save their heads from the wires that nearly cut them off!

"What kind of Heartless is that?!" asked Yami.

"I think her name's Circuit Breaker!" answered Riku. "And she's doing a pretty good job tearing up the area!"

"This isn't good!" muttered Gene firing another shot at the Heartless. "If it destroys the Outlaw Star then how can I travel the worlds?!"

"You can travels through worlds in this?" asked Riku.

"Well, we used it to escape ours!"

Suddenly wires from another nearby computer shot out and bound Yami to a piece of machinery. Riku and Gene abandoned the 'shield' and the chase was on again. Gene kept firing shots at the Circuit Breaker, but nothing worked! Then wires shot out from the Circuit Breaker's hand and wrapped Gene up in a coil of wires.

Riku desperately dodged the wires as he made his was towards the Circuit Breaker. He managed to get up close and strike it a few times with his Keyblade, but instead of disappearing, the Circuit Breaker formed a blade out of coils wires. And Riku found out that they could be very sharp. The blade managed to slash him across the arm, he grabbed his right arm and blood leaked out from his left that that held the wound. The Circuit Breaker now held it's blade high above Riku and was about to bring it down. Riku gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow.

The blow never came, Riku looked up and saw that the Circuit Breaker had a five-tailed fox gnawing on it's arm and through the coils of wire. Riku watched as the fox tore through the wire, disconnecting one from the other. He noticed that the wire that was cut off from the main power couldn't move anymore! Riku quickly drew his Keyblades and rushed towards the Heartless, it was too preoccupied with the fox to pay attention to Riku as he prepared to attack.

A flash of light and the Heartless's dying scream filled the room. Riku struck the power source from which the Heartless had connected itself to. Then the lights of the Outlaw Star returned and the wires that had attacked them disappeared. Riku turned to face the fox.

"Thanks, Zeero," said Riku. With a puff of smoke Zeero returned to his other form, his half-demon form.

"You're welcome!"

"Thanks for your help, but why did you help us?" asked Yami. "You said this was a test."

"Well, I never said I couldn't help you!" ^_^ (Riku and Yami fall over anime style while Gene is left very confused).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They explained the legend of the Keyblade to the Outlaw Star gang and made a deal that they could help them travel the worlds since they got rid of the Circuit Breaker. Only they couldn't travel till morning, the Heartless seemed to have done some damage to the ship and it needed to be repaired. Riku had sealed the Keyhole which was in the cockpit inside of a tube (where Melfina gets put into when they are flying the ship in case you don't know).

"Can you answer my questions now?" asked Riku.

"Only if you can answer this one," said Zeero. "Do you completely trust your heart?"

"Uh…I guess…"

"It can't just be a guess, Riku. If you yourself don't trust your heart, then the Keyblades won't trust you. You see, when you tried to reopen the hole you'd made in the Outlaw Star, you couldn't do it. You should have been, but you didn't."

"I really do trust my heart!"

"Are you sure?"

"Well…"

"I can't give you any answers until you know the answer to that one. Remember, as the Keyblade Master, a lot of people are counting on you. If you don't trust your heart, then you'll let them all down. It's better you'd admit you don't trust your heart now then to jeopardized the universe."

"…"

"I'll be waiting at the heart of Shin City. When you've come up with an answer, meet me there. I'm not trying to discourage you Riku, I'm trying to help."

The fox-demon strolled off into the darkness and once again Riku was deep in thought.

"Are you alright?" asked Yami.

"Yeah, but I need some time to think…alone."

"Alright then, I'll meet you back at Dr. Shuichiro's home. And Riku?"

"Hmmm?"

"Think carefully about what Zeero just said."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Riku wandered around the town like a lost puppy. He didn't know what to do? Was he really not reliable enough to take the Keyblade. He tried to summon them, but they did not appear. 'Maybe I'm not really the Keybearer after all…' though Riku.

"As long as you have doubt in your heart, there is no way you can win against the darkness."

"Who said that?" asked Riku who was startled by the dark voice. An eighteen year old boy stepped out of the shadows. He looked almost exactly like the boy he had met when he escaped Kingdom Hearts. Only his eyes were a golden color and his cat ears, tail, and hair were a midnight black color.

"You're wondering if I'm related to the stranger you've met right?"

"How…?"

"He's my brother, you're wondering how I know, correct?"

"Who are you?!"

"A friend, or perhaps, a foe…It really depends on who's side you're on… Riku…"

"How do you know my name? And why are you helping me?"

"How can you be sure I'm helping you?"

"…"

"My name's Kuro, and I believe that we'll meet again…Keybearer…"

"Are you sure that I'm the Keybearer?"

"Hmph! Like my younger brother said. Remember this advice, sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…"

"Hey wait!"

"If you don't give into the darkness you stand a chance…"

Kuro melted away into the shadows, leaving Riku alone in the darkness, thinking. 'Don't give into the darkness?' he thought. 'Of course! I have the ability to be the Keybearer, but I keep doubting myself and falling into the darkness! If I just believe in my heart then nothing can stand in my way!' Both Keyblades appeared in his hands, this time, they felt completely in his control!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, the heart of Shin City should be here right?" asked Yami.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it!" replied Riku. They spotted Zeero standing in the center of the town. He seemed to be guarding something.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" questioned Yami.

"Yeah!" said Riku. 'I want to pay back for all the sorrow I have caused, the people that have suffered because of me…This time I'll make things right!'

"Oh good, you all made it!" chirped Zeero.

"I can answer that question now," said Riku.

"No need to, I can see the answer in your eyes. Now, do you want me to explain why you have two Keyblades?"

"Yes, that will be nice."

"Well, you know you have to seal the Keyholes right?"

"Right?" Zeero groaned as he began to move some small, but heavy rocks into some kind of pattern.

"Well, you notice that only the black Keyblade does that right?"

"Come to think of it, yeah."

"Well," said Zeero, he had just finished setting up the rocks. A beam of light shot up from the ground and inside the beam was a transparent door. Zeero turned to face Riku and Yami. "Now you're about to learn what the other Keyblade does…"

_ Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: I hoped you like that chapter! This newly graduated eight-grader is very proud of her work now! I get to relax! But to all you seventh graders out there, eight grade graduation can just break your heart! You'll see what I mean later! See you all next time! Please R&R!

P.S- Should I start putting up little spoilers of what will happen on the next chapters?

P.P.S- Kuro is also from Youkai Shinzo. Kuro, Shiro, and Ryu are all brother, but you'll see that Ryu doesn't exactly fit in with his brothers that well!


	8. Onboard the Outlaw Star: Part 3

Akurei-Shinzo: No reviews? Wah! Oh well, here's the next chapter! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 5: Onboard the Outlaw Star (Part 3)

"You see," explained Zeero. "The black Keyblade is used to seal doors, while the silver one is to open doors."

"Open doors?" asked Riku.

"This door is a Dimension Door, ever world has one."

"Yes," said Yami. "I remember seeing one before my world was destroyed…"

"Ever world has these," continued Zeero. "It's because if their was any trouble the worlds would be connected and the survivors would have an escape route to go through."

"So all I have to do is use the Keyblade to open the door?" asked Riku.

"Yup! But there is a catch, the enemy has blocked off several parts of the universe, making it hard for survivors to get to safety. So you need these Heart Gems to break the locks on the door."

Zeero held up the silver orb that had been found when Riku and Yami defeated the Shadow Crawler.

"That's a Heart Gem?" asked Yami.

"Yes, see you insert it in a certain slot on the door and then use the Keyblade to open the door to that part of the universe. Heartless will drop special items when you beat them, but Heartless bosses will give you rare items, weapons, or a Heart Core to enter different parts of the universe," said Zeero inserting the gem.

"Alright then," said Riku, silver Keyblade in hand. The Keyblade shot a beam of light at the Keyhole, the door opened slightly and then wham! Opened completely, showing a picture of darkness with a few stars dotted here to there. "Let's get on the Outlaw Star and head off toward a different world!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I just realized I'm getting air sick…" moaned Zeero.

"Don't look in my direction!" shouted Yami. Just then, the ship started to shake, like they were under fire.

"Gene, what's going on?" asked Riku.

"I don't know!" yelled Gene from the cockpit.

"I think that our shi isn't made for this kind of travel," said Mefina.

"I was afraid of that," moaned Zeero. "You need a certain type of programming to travel the worlds!"

"Great! Know you tell us!" shouted Gene.

"Hang on!" yelled Jim. Riku and Yami struggled to keep their grip on the Outlaw Star while the ship made crazy turns and twists. Zeero on the other hand was bouncing off of everywhere and everything.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the fox-demon. His face made that silly look again (@_@).

"We're going to crash on that planet!" squealed Aisha in fear.

"Look out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Riku as they crash landed on sandy and rocky ground. After the cloud settled, Riku and Yami stood up and dusted the dust off of them. Zeero on the other hand, fell off of the ceiling. The three exited the ship and looked around the new world. "Where are we?"

_ Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: Sorry this is a short chapter! But I'm so tired! I just went to the Yu-gi-oh! Trading Card Tour at the Galleria! Please R&R!

P.S- Can you guess what world they're on?


	9. A Keybearer on Planet Zi

Akurei-Shinzo: Happy B-day Jenny! This is another chapter for this fic! Hope you like it! P.S- If you want the secret ending, beat the game! Or go online and download the special secret called Deep Drive! It is sooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 6: A Keybearer on Planet Zi

"1+1= 11..." muttered Zeero with swirls around his eyes. (In my story Zeero truly believes one plus one equals eleven. Put one 1 next to another 1 then it looks like this 11)

"Where are we?" asked Riku. Before anyone could say anything a huge snail like machine rolled out in front of them. A blonde hair guy poked his head out of the window.

"Hey! You need some help down there?" he asked.

"That would be appreciated," said Yami.

"Thanks!" said Riku.

"Spider!" yelped Zeero burrowing his head into the sand (Riku and Yami sweatdropped).

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"The names' Bit Cloud, but you can call me Bit," said the blonde holding out a gloved hand.

"Riku."

"Yami."

"Zeero! By the way…do you have any SAKE?" Bam! Yami whacked Zeero on the head.

"Well," said Dr. Toros. "Now that we're all acquainted let's head back to the base become those Heartless Droids return."

"Heartless Droids?" asked Riku.

"Oh yeah, they'd appeared on Planet Zi a couple of weeks ago and ever since then a lot of people have gone missing. It's a shame, they might even cancel Zoid Battles because of this invasion!"

"Zoid Battles?" asked Riku.

_ Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: Sorry folks! Hard day volunteering at the library! Please R&R and play .hack//Infection and .hack//Mutation! See you soon! Sorry for the extremely short chapter but I'm seriously worn out today! You try shelving heavy hard back books onto shelves that are at least a good foot or so taller than you!


	10. Return of the Fury

Akurei-Shinzo: Alright, this world is from the anime Zoids! One of my all-time favorites! I mean who can't resist watching gigantic robotic animals tearing each other apart? I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy! Oh, and that previous chapter was put up as a Happy B-day announcement to one of my best friends!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 7: Return of the Fury

"These are some types of Zoids you will see on Planet Zi," said Bit leading the gang into the hanger.

"Wow…" said Riku. He had never seen things like this, gigantic robots that resembled animals. There were five in all in the hanger, one was a black fox, another was a dinosaur loaded up with tons of guns, a green pterodactyl, a strange white lion, and a white wolf that resembled the lion.

"That's my Liger Zero," said Bit pointing towards the lion. Riku, Yami, and especially Zeero were surprised when the thing bent down to let Bit pet it. "He's my Zoid, over there is the Shadow Fox, it belongs to Brad. That there, with a ton of guns is Leena's Gun Sniper. The green one in Jamie's Raynos, and that wolf over there…was Doc's new Zoid he bought with the rest of our money…."

"But it was so big and shiny…" said the doctor.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After everyone from the Blitz team and Outlaw Star crew got acquainted Riku began the long process of explaining the Keyblade. After the hour or so explanation, the gang was amazed about what was going on among the worlds.

"Wow," said Jamie.

"I didn't know things like that happened," said Leena.

"Snore…"

Everyone turned to face Zeero, who was asleep and drooling in his seat. Yami shoved him off the seat and woke the demon up.

"Ow! Hey! I'm awake already!" muttered Zeero rubbing his head.

"So as I was saying I need some help in finding the Keyhole to this world and a way to get around the galaxy so I can seal other Keyholes."

"Why don't you just borrow a Zoid?" asked Brad.

"I don't think that would be so easy," said Doc. "You'll need a special system to get around the barriers set up by the Heartless… I know! When we help repair the Outlaw Star we can examine the data from it's experience and install some sort of system that will allow a Zoid to penetrate the barriers! I'm a genius! Come on Jamie!" The doctor was so excited, before Jamie could even say anything the doc grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him off into the hanger.

"Hey," said Bit. "Now that you mention it, when me and Liger won the Royal Cup…I think I saw a Keyhole around the Ultrausarus wreck that was the finish line!"

"Really!" exclaimed Riku. "Can you show us where it is?"

"Sure!" said Bit.

"We can all go in the Gustav," suggested Brad. "That way your Liger can show us the way and if you need back up our Zoids will be at our fingertips."

"Alright!" shouted Leena. "I just can't wait to blow those Heartless up! Bam! Bam! Bam! I'll show them why they call me Trigger Happy!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are we there yet?" asked Zeero.

"No!" answered Yami.

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

" For the last time! No!"

"Alright! Alright! Geez…why are you so grumpy!?

"Hey," said Bit to the Liger. "What's up?! Why are you slowing down… uh, guys? Do old wrecks glow an eerie color when they get old?"

"No, why?" asked Brad.

"I think there's something up ahead. You all better get into your Zoids!"

"Roger!" said Leena. "I can't wait! Boom!"

"We get the point!" said Brad.

"Hey," said Zeero. "What's that?"

A dark dinosaur appeared out of a dark portal, it's eyes glowed in a dark crimson color. On it's chest was the seal of the Heartless.

"Oh no!" cried Leena.

"It's the Berserk Fury!" shouted Brad.

"But, I thought me and Liger took in down!" yelled Bit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, but you did beat this creature, Bit," said the dark voice inside the dark chapel. "Lucky it gave it's heart, the Zoid Core as you know it, to me. So I resurrected it to become the Heartless Berserk Fury!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Riku! You, Yami, and Zeero have to get into the Ultrasuarus!" ordered Bit.

"But…" stuttered Riku.

"Just go!" yelled Brad from the Shadow Fox.

"We'll take this thing down in a huge bang!" said Leena ready to fire a whole barrage of missiles at the Berserk Fury from her Gun Sniper.

"Alright!" said Riku. "Let's go!"

Riku, Yami, and Zeero quickly rushed into the gigantic wreck while the Blitz Team surrounded the Fury.

"Looks like we meet again," said Bit. The Liger Zero roared in agreement. The Fury brought out both Buster Claws, set out it's leg locks, tail stretched out, and opened it's mouth for the Triple Charged Particle Cannon…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you think they'll be alright back there?" asked Yami as the group stopped to look at the battle below them.

"I'm sure they'll be okay," said Zeero. "Right now, we have to find that Keyhole!"

"I agree," said Riku. "Let's go!"

The three rushed down the twists and turns of the Ultrasuarus, and they began to realize why this Zoid was considered to be the biggest Zoids built.

"Why couldn't the Keyhole be hidden in an attic," moaned Yami.

"No time to complain!" yelped Zeero. "Look! Droid Heartless!"

An army of metal-like Shadow Heartless began to inch their way towards the group. They got into a battle-stance ready to take down the oncoming Heartless.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you really think you can defeat me, Riku?" asked the 'source of all Heartless'. "I can tell that there is still doubt in your heart, all I have to do is exploit it…"

"Master," asked a cloaked figure. "Should we worry about this boy?"

"No, the only ones we should be worrying about are the Forbidden Three… The Keybearer has already met the strongest of them… But if he indeed succeeds in making it this far… he'll be very useful in my plan!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, five minutes have past and there seemed to be no stop to the oncoming onslaught of Heartless.

'Am I really strong enough to save the worlds?' thought Riku as he desperately fought off the oncoming Heartless. 'Maybe I'm not the real Keybearer…' The Keyblades began to fade. 'No! I can't think like that! Sora, King Mickey, Kairi, and a whole universe is counting on me! I can't let them down!'

In the shadows, watching a fight, stood a boy about sixteen years of age. His silver/sapphire eyes watch as Riku and the others struggled against the Heartless. Both of his arms were wrapped tightly with bandages. His hair was pulled back into a thin braid and his bangs covered his eyes partly.

"That's right," he said quietly. "You'd better not let them down." Behind him a door materialized, it was midnight black outlined in silver. It opened and the boy turned and entered into it's darkness. The door slowly closed and disappeared, like it was never there…

_ Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: Due to technical difficulties I couldn't get this chapter up earlier! So I hoped you enjoyed it! Bye! Please R&R!


	11. A Signal of Victory

Akurei-Shinzo: Hi! I've just watched Twin Signal on Saturday and guess what! I've decided to dump my previous two bishonen crushes for Signal! He's so cute when he's chibified! But those were only the OVAs I watched, I need to read the manga! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy! Oh, and that previous chapter was put up as a Happy B-day announcement to one of my best friends!

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Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 8: A Signal of Victory

The Liger Zero struck the Berserk Fury with another Strike Laser Claw, only to be thrown backwards into the desert sand. The Shadow Fox charged at it with it's own Strike Laser Claw, it succeeded in hitting it's target, but it too was thrown backwards into the dust. The Gun Sniper in the background was firing a barrage of missiles, but the Fury didn't seem to want to have a Command Freeze.

"He's a lot stronger than the last time we've fought him, Liger," said Bit. He paused and looked at the Ultrasuarus ruin. "I hope Riku and the others are doing a lot better then the rest of us…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Don't they ever run out of ammunition?" asked Yami, both him and Riku took refuge behind a piece of broken machinery. Zeero on the other hand was busy dodging the shots.

"Damn!" said Riku. "I wish I was stronger! Then we wouldn't have this problem!"

"Guys! A little help!" yelped Zeero as a bullet zoomed past him, taking off a centimeter of his hair. "Whine…."

"Riku," said Yami. "Look for the Keyhole, me and Zeero will try to hold them off."

"Alright…" agreed Riku.

"Hey! Can't I go look for it and you two stay and fight?" asked Zeero still dodging the gunfire.

"No," answered Yami. "Riku needs to seal the Keyhole up, so it's best that he goes."

"Well, if you're staying can't you at least help me out?!" yelled Zeero as bullets skimmed past him.

"Riku! Go!" shouted Yami rushing to Zeero's aid.

"Right," said Riku. He rushed down the hallway and into the shadows.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where's that Keyhole!?" asked Riku to himself desperately. He ran through the halls and corridors, but no luck. "This is the last door…" Riku slowly turned the knob.

"Look out!" yelled a voice. Riku just barely avoided getting hit with an object. When the dust settled he realized that it was a boy! He was about sixteen years old, with turquoise hair and angry sapphire eyes. The strange thing about him was that part of his body was made out of metal.

"Are you alright?" asked Riku.

"I will be as soon as I kill that thing for destroying my world!"

"What?" Riku turned to face a gigantic metal spider towering over them. "What kind of Heartless is that?"

"Screw what kind it is! I'm going to kill it!"

Riku noticed that the boy's hair had turned silver and his jacket had changed color too. The boy, or whatever he was charged at the Heartless, jumped into the air and came down on the spider with a powerful punch. He forced the spider backwards into the wall, but it still got up on all eight legs.

"What does it take to kill this thing!" he yelled getting real annoyed. The spider then began to shoot out thread, he managed to dodge most of them, but one managed to make a clean cute on his jacket.

"Those threads are like blades!" shouted Riku who was very surprised. The spider then took notice of him and began shooting it's threads at Riku. "Oh crud!"

"We're not finished!" yelled the other guy. Then he gave a good whack to the spider's head, it didn't really do much except make a dent in it's head. He landed next to Riku. "Great! Nothing works!"

"Maybe if we hit it multiple times it will eventually die…"

"Tried that, didn't work!"

"Then what?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to keep on fighting!" With that he took off, ready to attack the spider once more. Riku hesitated, then he too charged to the Heartless Spider.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you think Riku's okay?" asked Zeero as his blade sliced through a Heartless. He and Yami were back to back fighting off the Heartless which were surrounding them.

"I don't know! But I hope he and the Blitz Team are having better luck than us!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Strike Laser Claw!" shouted Bit as he and the Liger Zero charged at the Fury. They nailed it before it managed to use the Charged Particle Beam, it was the same move they had used to defeat the Fury in the Royal Cup battle. "Come on Liger! Stay focused! If we let go of it now, we're goners!"

Both Leena and Brad's Zoids were out of commission, so all they could do was watch.

"This looks bad," said Leena.

"I hope the others are in betters situations then we are," muttered Brad. "I'd better get paid for this…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

""You're mine!" shouted the android. Riku had just recently learned that the boy he was fighting with was not human, the reason that part of him was metal was that he was a robot! An android. The Spider leapt out of the way before the what-would-have-been fatal blow hit it. "Is it just me, or is that thing getting smarter?!"

"Either it's getting smarter or we're both going crazy."

The two of them jumped out of the way of the steal thread that came shooting out of it. Riku didn't know what to do, that thing seemed invincible! When he brought down both Keyblades on it, both blades just bounced off! It was like fighting a brick wall without any weapons! 'Wait! If it's outsides are tough then…'

"Hey!" yelled Riku.

"What?!"

"I have an idea! Keep it distracted for a moment would you?!"

"What?! Alright, but I hope you know what you're doing!"

As the robot kept on punching and kicking the spider Riku climbed up an antique-like computer so he was at eye-level with the spider. Then it opened it's mouth for another round of shooting steel-like thread.

"Got you!" shouted Riku as he flung both Keyblades into the monster's mouth. With a cry the thing began to spark, Riku quickly jumped down and took cover. Just in time, the Heartless exploded, leaving only the Keyblades.

"What did you do?" asked the robot.

"I figured that the Heartless's insides weren't as strong as the outside armor."

Behind them the Keyhole, dark, yet bright, glittered in an eerie way. Riku raised his silver Keyblade and a beam of light shot forth at the Keyhole. Erasing any trace of it once being there.

"What was that all about?" asked the robot. Riku had to explain the whole Keyblade story once again. "So that's why all those things showed up. Why didn't you come sooner! You could've saved my world!"

"Well…as soon as I defeat the source of the Heartless then everything and everyone will be restored…"

"Oh well, I guess that's good enough… My name's Signal."

"I'm Riku."

"Hey!" yelled a familiar voice. Yami and Zeero broke through the door and seemed exhausted. It was Yami that had yelled out to them. "Are you alright? Who's he?"

"His name is Signal," said Riku.

"You sealed the Keyhole already?" asked Zeero. "Aw man! Missed it!"

"Let's get back to the Blitz Team."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks to you our world is safe!" said the Doctor. Luckily Bit and the Liger Zero managed to take down the Berserk Fury so they all managed to get back in one piece. "The Zoid you saw earlier, the Konig Wolf. It's yours, I've programmed it to allow you to travel the worlds and fight off enemy Heartless. I've also installed a map into the Zoid, but you'll have to complete it yourself. It will only show you the world that you're closest to."

"Here," said Jamie. "These are for you guys. I hope they will help."

Riku receive a new pair of Keyblades, one was shaped like the Berserk Fury's Buster Claw, while the other was in the shape of a Blade Liger's blade. Zeero receive a new sword which resembled the Storm Sworder's curved blade that was at the tip of each wing. Yami receive a pair of metal bracers.

"Thanks," said Riku.

"Don't thank us," said the Doc. "You've saved our world, it's the least we can do."

"What about the you guys?" asked Zeero to the Outlaw Star crew.

"We'll be hanging out here for a while," said Gene.

"This world's pretty peaceful and the food here is great!" said Aisha.

"And you?" asked Riku. Signal had been quiet since they'd gotten to the Blitz Team's base.

"Don't really know…"

"I know!" exclaimed Zeero. "You can help us on our journey to defeat the Heartless!"

"I don't think there's enough space on the Zoid…" pointed out Signal.

"No! I mean when Riku needs your help he can summon you!" said Zeero.

"What?" asked Yami and Signal.

"I remember Sora had summons…" said Riku slowly.

"Exactly! You see, magic never fades away from a Keyblade, but summons do! This Keyblade was created from Sora's Keyblade so all of the magic and abilities that he got with his Keyblade are in these. The only thing gone are the summons!"

"So I can get up to six summons too?"

"Yup!"

"Alright, why not?" muttered Signal.

"I guess we'll head back towards Shin City…ah…ah…achoo!" said Zeero.

"Uh, Signal?" asked Yami. The gang turned to face Signal, but learned that he'd shrunk into a chibi form of himself.

"I guess that whenever someone sneezes," said the Doctor. "Signal transforms himself…"

"Hi! Anyone have chocolate?" squeaked Chibi Signal.

"I'll make sure to ask Signal about this when we change him back…" said Riku. With that they got into the Konig Wolf and waved farewell to the Blitz Team and the Outlaw Star crew. The Zoids gave a howl and ran through the Dimension Door which opened automatically and let them through into the galaxy that held many adventures for them.

  
"Hey! That's my chocolate!" yelled Zeero.

"Mine!" yelled Chibi Signal.

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"This is going to be a long ride," muttered Yami.

Riku said nothing, but smiled as he piloted the Zoid through the invisible road that lead towards Shin City. Looks like this journey won't be dull.

_ Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: So did you like it? I just love Chibi Signal! But the grown up Signal is cute too ^_^! So please R&R! I bet you're still wondering about that other character from the last chapter! One clue, he's not Shiro, Ryu, or Katsu! To find out who he is, stay tuned and keep reading and reviewing!


	12. Kuro Returns

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while! When we were installing DSL something went wrong and all of my files vanished! Sniff! Oh well, you people better review cause I worked on the last chapter for an hour and it got deleted! I'm working so hard for you guys and girls! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Kuro Returns

            "What's going on?!" yells Yami hanging onto his seat restraint desperately. The cockpit of the Zoid was heating up at an amazingly fast rate and the whole machine shook like it was going to fall apart!

            "We're all going to die!" yelped Zeero. Chibi Signal got a hold of the chocolate as soon as Zeero began to panic.

            "Yeah!" he piped. "Chocolate!"

            "What's going on doc?" asked Riku when he turned on the computer monitor that connected him with the doctor.

            "I forgot to mention this to you," said the doctor very slowly. "The Konig Wolf is very high maintenance Zoid, it can overheat if it is pushed too hard…"

            "So what are we suppose to do?" exclaimed Yami as he held on tightly to the armrests. The Zoid was becoming an oven!

            "Eh…I didn't get to install the cooling equipment needed for this Zoid…"

            "Then what do we do?" screamed Riku trying not to let go of the controls which felt like they were going to burn his skin. Then a few Zoids showed up on the radar, they were all zeroing in on the Konig Wolf. "What are those!?"

            "Those would be Reddlers and Killer Domes," said the Doctor. "The Reddlers are the dragon like Zoids and the Killer Domes are shaped like crabs. Though they are all low level Zoids I don't think your Konig Wolf can take them on now…"

            "We know that! Hey!" yelled Riku. The screen that connected them with the doctor went blank! "Now what?!"

            "If we're going to do anything we'd better do it fast!" suggested Yami.

            "Huh?" said Riku when the Konig Wolf's combat data showed up on it's own. "Multi-Purpose Boosters?"

            The Konig Wolf gave a howl and the two small boosters on it's back (which resembled the Berserk Fury's) opened and shot a full blast of steam at the enemy Zoids. That gave them the advantage they needed to escape their enemy, it also cooled the wolf temporarily. But it soon began to heat up once more.

            "Riku, I think this Zoid isn't another ordinary piece of machine," said Yami.

            "What do you mean?" asked Riku.

            "It's sort of like Bit's Liger Zero, it's an A.I! That's why it activated the combat data on it's own!"

            "Really?" said Riku. Then to the Zoid he asked, "Is that true?"

            The Konig Wolf roared as if in agreement, then Riku noticed it activated the Particle Goggles. These goggles allowed them to see hidden enemies and it provided a map of the universe, though it was still incomplete.

            "Yeah!" exclaimed Zeero for the first time since he began to try to hide inside of the seat. "We're approaching Shin City!"

            "I just hope we can make it!" commented Yami. "Look!"

            The monitor began to flash warnings of advancing Zoids, but they came by the dozens! And all had their cannons and ammunition set on them! Shin City's door was only a few yards away!

            "Come on!" yelled Riku. "You can do it!" The Konig Wolf's armor began to steam, but the stubborn Zoid gave a brave howl and activated its boosters! The door to Shin City was opened slightly, the Zoid shot the gap and the door slammed shut on the enemy.

            The Konig Wolf crash-landed onto the ground, it's armor still steaming. The cockpit door opened and the gang quickly got out gasping for air while Chibi Signal complained that his chocolate had melted. The Zoid laid upon the ground, it was cooling off, but the trip had wore it down by a lot! Riku got up and stood in front of the metal wolf, before leaving to find the Keyhole Bit had told him that Zoids were alive. All of them where, they had hearts called Zoid Cores, so the Heartless also prey upon these creatures. Riku put his hand on the Konig Wolf, it gave a soft roar as if it knew what Riku was thinking. Riku didn't want this Zoid to die, he didn't want another heart to be tormented because of him. What kind of lousy Keybearer was he? He couldn't even keep this one Zoid alive.

            "Growl…"said the Konig Wolf softly. Riku smiled at it.

            "Don't worry," he assured the Zoid. "I won't let you die."

            "Of course you won't" said another voice. Riku turned to see a short pink-haired woman staring up at him. He had met her before leaving for Planet Zi.

            "Washu?" he asked. The woman winked at him.

            "That's right," she said. "I see you still remember my name!"

            "How ca you help our Zoid?" asked Yami standing up. Zeero and Chibi Signal were now fighting over a bottle of SAKE in the background.

            "Me, Minoru, Skuld, and Ed have set up a machine shop," explained Washu. "We fix broken down machines. If we need any spare parts we asked Alita, she now owns a scrap yard."

            "Alita's that android right?" asked Riku. Zeero seemed to have the upper hand with the fight over the SAKE.

            "Yup!"

            "Then who are the others?" asked Yami. "Are they recent survivors?"

            "Sadly yes," said Washu. "Their family and friends are all hospitalized, but now let's get back to fixing up your Zoid!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "New customers Washu?" asked a twelve-year old boy. He had raven colored hair and wore glasses.

            "Nah, they're just some friends of mine Minoru," said Washu. "The Keybearer I was talking about, this is him and his friends. I said we'd fix up their machine for free."

            "Alright then, we can set it over there."

            The hanger was full of gigantic robots, it seemed that they were all built for combat.

            "These are the Gundams we are fixing up," said Ed, a young tomboy. Her dog, Ein barked happily as he hopped around the hanger.

            "We're fixing them for their owners," said Skuld. "When they all wake up they can get them back without waiting."

            "Wake up?" asked Riku.

            "Yes, they'd lost their hearts," said Ed. The gang was silent for a moment, even Ein lowered his ears.

            "It's kinda dusty he..her…here…ah…ah…achoo!" sneezed Zeero. With a puff of smoke Signal transformed once again into his previous form. The fifteen-year old Signal's hair had returned to its original turquoise color.

            "Where am I?" asked Signal a bit groggy. "Why do I feel like I have eaten a lot of chocolate?"

            "What happened?" asked Washu, eyes lighting up with interest.

            "Uh, Signal?" asked Riku. "Why do you transform when someone sneezes?"

            "When the Professor was programming me my little brother, Nobuhico (I'm not sure if I spelled that right), he's my human brother, sneezed so whenever someone sneezes I transform."

            "I'd just love to run some experiment!" said Washu with stars for eyes. Signal, feeling uncomfortable, inched behind Riku.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Hey," said Terriermon. "Look who's back!"

            After dropping off Signal at Dr. Shuichiro's home they had decided to stop by the Tamer's shop. They were immediately greeted by the white/green bunny with horns.

            "Hey Riku," said Takato. "There's someone here from another world! He wants to ask you a favor!"

            "What kind of favor?" asked Riku.

            "He's in the back," said Rika.

            In the back room, it was cluttered with books and odd magazines filled with strange looking creatures. He was an old man wearing a lab coat.

            "Ah, you must be Riku," said the old man.

            "Yes, and you are…"

            "Professor Oak, since you were traveling the worlds I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

            "Sure."

            "When my world was destroyed there were creatures called Pokemon which escaped into different worlds. Could you help me find them? I think there are 99 species of Pokemon still out there somewhere."

            "Alright, I'll do my best!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "What's that?" asked Zeero looking at the red device that Professor Oak gave to Riku.

            "It's a Pokedex, it's suppose to tell me what kind of Pokemon I've found," answered Riku.

            "So how many do we have to find?" asked Yami.

            "99…"

            The gang stopped in their tracks and hung their heads low. This was no easy mission! Just then a motorcycle stopped in front of them, a woman with blue hair and in a police uniform got off and went up to them.

            "Are you Riku?" she asked.

            "Yeah."

            "I'm Officer Jenny, we need you to come over to the hospital, there is something you should see…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Oh hi Jenny," said a woman with light pink hair. She appeared to be a new nurse here.

            "Hey Joy," said Officer Jenny. "Have you seen Amaya?"

            "Over here," said Amaya coming out of a room.

            "What's the problem?" asked Riku.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "What happened?" asked Riku. A man with midnight hair laid upon the hospital bed in a deep coma. Where his heart was suppose to be was a black hole!

            "Do you think you can restore his heart?" asked Rain, another nurse who was the friend of Domon. Domon continued to sleep, the monitor showed that he was still alive, but barely.

            "Not just yet," said Riku. "But don't worry…"

            The gang left Rain alone with Domon and across the hallway another boy walked out of another room.

            "How are your friends doing Heero?" asked Amaya. Heero didn't pay attention to her. He just continued to walk down the hallway, after a few seconds he stopped and punched a hole through the wall.

            "Does this happen all the time?" whispered Zeero as Heero turned the corner. Amaya nodded.

            "His friends are all in comas," she explained. "They just got here recently, poor Heero. He is the only one left from his world."

            The lights began to flicker and soon the hospital was blacked out. Within a few seconds power was restored.

            "What was that?" asked Riku.

            "The Heartless," answered Amaya. "They keep trying to destroy the hospital so that the coma victims won't have a chance to wake up. Luckily Professor Oak lent us some electric Pokemon, they keep us working long enough so that we can restore power."

            "Why do they want to destroy the electricity?" asked Yami. "Since the victims hearts were stolen they can't wake up anyways."

            "Not really, you see, the victims' hearts are not completely taken, yet. But if they completely destroy their victim then they have succeeded in taking their hearts," explained Amaya.

            "So you'd better not let that happen," said a voice. Riku looked around the hospital to see who said that, but they were the only ones inside this hallway.

            "Is something wrong?" asked Yami.

            "No, it's nothing…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "You can't be serious!" yelled Zeero. Riku had tried to summon the Keyblades later that night, but they didn't appear.

            "Maybe you're just tired," said Yami, he too was worried about Riku's not being able to summon the Keyblades.

            "Maybe…I'm going out for a walk," muttered Riku. He opened the door and walked into the darkness of the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Why can't I summon the Keyblades?" asked Riku aloud to himself. He punched a brick wall but that did nothing except hurt his hand. "Why can't I summon them anymore?"

            "That's because the doubt in your heart has grown," said that same voice he'd heard earlier at the hospital. Riku turned around to see a person with golden eyes standing a few feet away from him on the bridge. It was Kuro.

            "Kuro? What are you doing here?" The fog on the bridge began to thicken, Kuro stared at him with no emotion in his eyes.

            "I'm here to test your heart. We're beginning to doubt that you are the true Keyblade Master."

            "But I already had a test!"

            "Zeero wasn't suppose to help you, but that test was a bit easy."

            Kuro leapt onto the railing of the bridge, the fog had thickened into a cloud. The cloud covered the river entirely. The lampposts flickered and some went out.

            "What is the test?" asked Riku. Kuro smirked at him.

            "Come!" he yelled jumping into the fog. Riku rushed to the bridge and looked over it. He didn't hear the splash that was suppose to be caused by the water, it was as if the water had turned into this gigantic cloud of fog.

            "What do you want?!"

            "Test your skills against me, if you're not strong enough then I'll know for sure!"

            Riku didn't know what to do, if Kuro wanted to fight him then how was he suppose to find Kuro in this thick cloud of fog!? But something told him inside that in order to prove himself him must follow Kuro into the fog. Riku jumped onto the railing and let himself fall into the battlefield-to-be below.

            "Riku!" yelled Yami and Zeero. They had come out to look for Riku when they saw him jump off the bridge into the river. They rushed over to the bridge, but couldn't jump in after him!

            "Hey," said Zeero. "It looks like Kuro's around here!"

            "Who's Kuro?" asked Yami

            "A friend of mine, he must want to fight against Riku."

            "Why?"

            "I dunno, probably wants to tests his skills. The problem is we both know Riku can't summon the Keyblades now, and if Riku doesn't have any weapons when he fights Kuro….gulp…"

            "What's wrong?"

            "The thing is… if Kuro uses his sword then…well…let's just say it's all over!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Riku opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings, if water were still here he would have been at the bottom of the river. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a shadow leapt out of view. Riku quickly turned to see what it was.

            Then realizing his mistake, he turned back around and barely got out of the way of Kuro's blade. Riku put his right arm over his stomach, crimson liquid began to leak out slowly. Kuro jumped out of view once more. Riku looked around desperately for him.

            "Why do we have to fight!?" he asked

            "It's the only way to tell if you're strong enough!" yelled Kuro as he appeared out of a cloud of fog. His blade managed to slice Riku's left arm. Riku winced in pain and fell over, his right hand covered the wound, but the blood still came out anyways. Riku opened one eye and looked at Kuro. He was staring at him. "You're pathetic…"

            "What?"

            "You should be able to sense me by now, but you're instincts are so weak you could barley dodge my lamest attacks. Either it was skill or just dumb luck, but wither way you're defiantly not strong enough for the Keyblade! Surrender it now to someone else while you still can! If you continue your quest like this then you'll let a lot of people down!"

            Riku slowly stood up, blood dripping down making a small puddle on the ground. He forced himself to look straight into Kuro's eyes. No, he just couldn't give the Keyblades up! Kuro seemed to have read his mind.

            "Very well then, it's your choice!" he yelled charging at Riku once more. Blade drawn and sharp.

            'He's going to kill me!' thought Riku. 'If I don't do something quick then it's all over!'

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: So how do you like it? Will Riku survive Kuro's next attack? How can he win if he doesn't have the Keyblades? To find out please review and I'll post up the next chapter! See you soon!


	13. The Necromancer

Akurei-Shinzo: Hi there! I'm back! So how did you like the previous chapters? Bet you want to know what happens to Riku! So here's chapter 10! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

Chapter 10: The Necromancer

            'He's going to kill me!' thought Riku desperately. At the last second Riku managed to jump out of the way of Kuro's katana. But this battle was far from over! Riku was panting and beginning to sweat, this was very bad.

            "I'm surprised, you actually dodged that attack," said Kuro. He raised his blade once more. "But let's see if you can dodge this one!"

            'Oh no!' thought Riku as Kuro disappeared into the fog once more. He kept his guard on and was prepared to dodge any attack thrown at him. Then he knew where Kuro was.

            Riku jumped to his right as Kuro brought his blade down, he had been behind Riku waiting to strike. Even though Riku managed to dodge the blade attack the rocks that flew out of the ground from the force of the sword. Riku fell to the ground and placed a hand on his chest to try to stop the blood from coming out. Still the crimson liquid leaked out anyways.

            "Ready to give up?" asked Kuro.

            "No," answered Riku. "I can't give up, not now…my friends…they're…they're all counting on me…I can't let them down!"

            "Suit yourself," said Kuro before he leapt up into the air.

            'This can't be good!' thought Riku. Then he saw the shimmer of steel above him, there was no way he could escape this time! This time he was a goner for sure! 'Sora, Kairi, King Mickey, everyone…I'm sorry. I'm sorry…I just wasn't strong enough…' Riku gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, he held his arms over his head, but that wasn't going to help much. Then the blade came down.

            "What?" exclaimed a very surprised Kuro. Riku opened his eyes and there, in his hands were the Keyblades. They had saved him from certain death, but he didn't even summon them. Riku then felt a powerful magic surge through the Keyblades to him.

            "Cure!" said Riku, his injuries were healed and that was a relief. He had lost enough blood for one night. Kuro stood in front of him for a while, staring. Riku was in a battle stance, ready for anything Kuro was about to throw at him. Kuro simply sheathed his sword.

            "Who knew," stated Kuro. "The Keyblades must have a lot of faith in you to come to your rescue without you even summoning them. Maybe you really are the Keyblade master…"

            "You knew I didn't summon them?"

            "Of course, I'm not stupid. I can sense fear in humans. So I knew you were to afraid to summon a Keyblade."

            The fog began to disappear and the water from the river began to slowly return. Kuro jumped onto the lamppost on top of the bridge, Riku slowly climbed on to the bridge and flopped down on the wood.

            "Riku!" shouted two voices. Riku turned to see Yami and Zeero rush over to him.

            "What happed to you?" asked Yami. "You're all beaten and bruised up!"

            "Kuro…"said Zeero slowly. The half cat-demon simply shrugged.

            "Only doing my job," he said. Then he vanished into the night.

            "We'd better get you to the hospital," said Yami steadying Riku. Zeero helped Riku up as well.

            "You looked like you've lost a lot of blood," gasped Zeero. Riku said nothing, he had drifted into unconsciousness.

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            Riku blinked his eyes, he was in a bed and the lights above were blinding him. He put his hand over his eyes to shield them from the light.

            "Oh good," said a familiar voice. "You're awake."

            "Amaya?" asked Riku. The young nurse smiled at him.

            "Yup, looks like you're okay. Yami and Zeero are waiting for you at Dr. Shuichiro's home. They said as soon as you feel okay you are to meet up with them and then you all can head off towards the next world. Washu said that she's fixed up your Konig Wolf and he's ready for anything."

            "Thanks"

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            "That's weird…" said Riku aloud. It was noon, but dark clouds surrounded the sky and blocked out the sun. They didn't look like rain clouds, mist began to fill the streets. Riku looked in front of him, a boy, about the age of sixteen walked out of the shadows. He had bandages wrapped around his arms and a braid tying back his raven hair. His eyes were probably his most interesting feature, they were a mixture of sapphire and silver…

            The boy slowly walked past Riku, but he stopped a few feet away from him. Riku turned to look at this strange boy, but the other boy kept his back turned to him. There was something strange about this boy, like he had experienced more darkness in his life.

            "My name is Takashi Endou," said the boy. "Don't forget…"

            "Takashi Endou…" mutter Riku. Why did this boy tell him his name?

            "I'm a Necromancer," continued Takashi. "And I've seen you're previous battles. Either you're very lucky or you have some skill within you. 

            "What?" Riku turned completely around so he could face this Necromancer. Takashi still had his back turned on him. Riku noticed on Takashi's right arm was a small crystal bracelet on it. It gave a feeling that it had some kind of promise held within its fragile form. "What are you saying?"

"I've seen the true darkness and if you want to save your friends you're going to need to trust your heart more!" Takashi turned his head a bit to look at Riku, his eyes glared darkly. "You probably have the most pathetic heart that a Keybearer can bear, what kind of person are you?!"

            "I…uh…" Riku was speechless.

            "Let me ask you this! Why do you want to be the Keybearer?"

            "Huh?"

            "Tell me why! Why do you want to be the Keybearer?!"

            "I…I…"

            "Tell me, what is your purpose of being here!"

"Uh…"

"Tell me!"

"…"

            "If you don't know then you'll never defeat the true darkness!"

            "What?" asked Riku. But the Necromancer had disappeared into the shadows. "What did he mean? The true darkness?"

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            "Riku!" exclaimed Zeero. "You're not all beat up anymore!"

            "Glad to have you back," said Yami.

            "Yeah, so let's pick up the Zoid and head off to the next world!" said Riku.

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            "Wow!" said Riku in awe. The Konig Wolf was completely repaired and it looked pretty please with itself.

            "He's a pretty tough piece of machinery," commented Washu. "Not only did he manage to survive the rough road, but he also so managed to survive serious overheating. By the way, I nicknamed him Sieg. Now he only answers to that."

            "Thanks Washu," said Riku. "We really appreciated it."

            "No problem! No go out there and kick some Heartless butt!"

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            "Alright," said Riku. "Sieg is all fixed up! Uh…where's Zeero?"

            "Don't know," answered Yami. "He said to wait for him at the door, he had some business to do."

            "I wonder what he's up to…"

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            Zeero ran down a dark alleyway, he knew they were here, he could sense them! He paused and sniffed the area a bit and then jumped on top of a roof. Zeero looked up and saw them, two fellow fox-demons. One had midnight hair, golden eyes, and over his left eye was a scar. On his face were two curved lines, one under each eye. The other had golden eyes also, but a patch covered the right one. He also had raven hair, but one strand was highlighted and looked like a small lighting bolt. Both of them had fox-ears and foxtails like Zeero and both of them wore capes.

            "Zen! Sin!" called Zeero. The one with the scar spoke first.

            "What do you want?" he asked. Zeero's ears perked up.

            "Come on Zen! Don't be so grumpy!"

            "Why shouldn't I be?"

            "Come down Zen," said the other fox-demon, his name was Sin. "Don't waste your power on a wimp like him."

            "Yeah!…Hey! I'm not a wimp!"

            "I agree, he's just an idiot…" said Zen slyly.

            "Yeah…(5 seconds later)…hey! That didn't sound right…." exclaimed Zeero. Zen and Sin both had sweatdrops on their heads.

            "I see your point, Zen," said Sin, who had a bored expression on his face.

            "I'm not stupid! Give me good reasons why I'm an idiot!" yelled Zeero.

            "Where should I begin?" asked Zen holding a record-book in his hand.

            "Um… Never mind… what are you guys doing here anyways?" asked Zeero.

            "Why would you care?" questioned Sin.

            "Um…why not?"

            "Look Zeero," said Zen. "We don't care what happens to the worlds, it wouldn't really affect us anyways because…"

            "Don't say it!" shrieked Zeero. "What if someone hears our secret!?"

            "Who cares, let's go beat up some more Heartless, Sin."

            "Right, and that's the only order we will follow."

            "Shiro told you all to beat up Heartless?" asked Zeero.

            "You," said Zen. "He knew we were bored, so we made a deal…"

            "What's the deal?"

            "For us to know and you to find out.." answered Sin as he and Zen vanished into the shadows.

            "Everyone just loves to disappear into the shadows these day," sighed Zeero.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Sorry I'm late!" said Zeero as he ran to meet up with Riku and Yami.

            "Let's go to the next world!" said Riku.

The Blade Liger Keyblade appeared in Riku's hand and shot a beam at the door. The door slowly creaked open and Sieg gave a deep howl. They all boarded the Zoid and speed off towards the next world that had been picked up by Sieg's sensors. 'Don't worry guys,' thought Riku, 'I promise I won't let you down!'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Boss, the kid has made his move…" said a cloaked figure with glowing crimson eyes.

            "Good, is everything in place?"

            "Uh…not yet… We still haven't found the two you were looking for…"

            "What?!"

            "Those two aren't in any of the worlds we have been to."

            "They have to be somewhere! Find them!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: Hi! How'd you like that chapter! I bet you can't guess what awaits our heroes in the next world? Have anyone of you found out Sonraku's secret yet? Well if you haven't it will soon be revealed (not really). To find out keep reviewing and I'll keep the chapters coming!


	14. Demon Heart

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm back! I bet you are all wondering what's going to happen! I promise more of the plot will be revealed! You all haven't guessed Sonraku's little secret haven't you? It's going to be a huge shocker then! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that have already been published. I'm still working very hard to publish my stuff. (Sorry it took so long to update, I also working on my fictionpress.net stuff, if you want to read it I'm still Akurei-Shinzo)

Chapter 11: Demon Heart 

            "We're almost there!" shouted Riku as Sieg charged forward towards the door to the next world. They had been pursued by a bunch of Command Wolves that had been firing at them non-stop.

            "I have to go to the potty…"muttered Zeero.

            "Why didn't you go before we left?" asked Yami.

            "I didn't feel like it?"

            While Yami and Zeero were arguing, Riku and Sieg managed to get past the door and left the Heartless controlled Zoids behind. Sieg stood in-between the entrance and exit of this new world and would wait for Riku and the others to return. Face it; they didn't want to freak out the inhabitants of this world with a gigantic robot!

            They were currently in a forest, it was a maze made from trees, Zeero reverted into his fox-form to sniff out any people nearby. It wouldn't have mattered, they heard a scream come from the north, or was it the south? Anyway, an explosion followed that scream.

            "Looks like someone's in trouble," said Yami.

            "Let's go," said Riku rushing towards the scene of the explosion.

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            "Kurama! Look out!" cried a girl with brown hair and blue eyes. 

There were a group of girls huddled together near an old, what looked like, a coliseum building. A boy with long crimson hair and emerald eyes dodged a heartless just in time before it managed to slice his head off. It was clear that he was outnumbered. There was a bunch of Heartless everywhere! The leader of the pack resembled Zeero's fox-form; only it was completely black and had seven tails!

The boy called Kurama reached behind his hair and pulled out a rose. What good that will do him Riku did not know. What was Kurama planning to do with a rose anyhow? Riku didn't think Heartless accepted bribes.

"Rose whip!" said Kurama loud and clear. In a shower of rose petals the rose had transformed into a bizarre whip, it looked like the stem of a rose in whip-form.

"That's something you don't see everyday," commented Yami. The group had been hiding within the bushes. They watched Kurama swing his whip around, taking out a few Heartless at a time.

"There are too many Heartless out there," stated Riku summoning his Keyblades. "I'm going to help."

"I'll go too," said Yami. "By the way…where's Zeero?"

"Never mind, let's go!"

            Riku and Yami jumped out of the bushes and charged at the Heartless. Riku began cutting away at the Heartless while Yami summoned a monster called Summoned Skull. Kurama and his friends were very surprised to see them come out of nowhere and help.

            "Need a hand?" asked Riku.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            The fight continued for several minutes, and there seemed to be no end to the swarms of Heartless after them. Yami had worn himself out after summoning his almighty creature. The Summoned Skull managed to take out a bunch of Heartless, but it took away a lot of magic that Yami possessed.

            Riku and Kurama still had to fight against the multiple forces of the Heartless. There seemed to be no end to the creatures that surrounded them. Zeero still hadn't shown up, where was he anyhow? The leader of the Heartless gave a bone-chilling howl, and all of the Heartless faced Riku. It seemed that they were going to finish him off first!

            The attacks continued, Riku was covered with tons of injuries and was bleeding terribly. Kurama wasn't looking too good himself either. Yami was unconscious after trying to summon another monster. He had already used up all of his magic. The head Heartless suddenly leapt at Riku and knocked him over on his side. When Riku knew what was happening it was too late to do anything. That Heartless was about to finish him with its final blow! All he could do was raise one arm up for a feeble shield and wait for death. It never came.

            Riku opened his eyes and saw a flash of reddish-brown fur fly past him, knocking his attacker out of the way. It was Zeero, still in his demon-form. Zeero had a firm grip on the Heartless's neck and didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. The Heartless roared and finally threw Zeero off its neck, but Zeero had drawn a lot of blood after his neck hold on the Heartless. The other Heartlesses surrounded the pair, but a stern look from the leader kept them from attacking.

            "Should we help Zeero?" asked Riku not sure of what to do.

            "No," answered Kurama.

            "Why not?"

            "This is his fight."

            Both fighters gave a howl and charged forward. Zeero's paws began to glow a dark blue color while the Heartless's claws glowed a dark black color. The two of them leapt into the air and their attacks seemed to cancel each other out. Zeero, not being so graceful, landed on the ground with a thump and the Heartless landed gracefully on all four paws. Before Zeero could get up the Heartless used one of its massive paws to pin him onto the ground.

            Zeero squirmed around trying to pull off the paw that held him down. After trying that for several minutes and realizing it wasn't doing him any good, he decided to give the paw a good chewing. It worked, the Heartless yelped and pulled its paw out of Zeero's fangs. The paw was dripping with blood; Zeero's mouth was also full of the blood.

            Out of the Heartless's back sprouted out two metal wings, when they grew out of it's back blood went splattering everywhere. It spread out its wings and charged towards Zeero. Zeero jumped up and tried to use his claw attack once more, but the Heartless dodged the attack and its steel wing sliced Zeero's upper right leg. It left a very deep cut and crimson liquid slowly leaked out. Zeero continued to glare at the Heartless and the Heartless glared back. Riku had never seen Zeero act this way before, usually the demon would freak out and run, but here he was, fighting until the bitter end.

            The Heartless charged once again at Zeero and Zeero ran towards the Heartless as well, his claw glowing blue and had blood dripping down from it. After a blinding flash of light the two creatures fell to the ground. Zeero looking very battered. The Heartless turned to attack, but blood suddenly spluttered out of it's own right leg. Looks like Zeero's attack had hit its intended target after all.

            Zeero slowly got up and howled at the Heartless and the Heartless howled back. Then they ran toward one other and tackled each other to the ground. Zeero jumped into the air and landed a few feet away from the Heartless. The two charged at each other again with a flash of light, but only this time Zeero's right claw was stabbing the Heartless through the chest. The other Heartless who were watching slowly backed off and vanished. Zeero pulled his claw out of the Heartless's corpse and collapsed onto the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Zeero!" yelled Riku rushing towards his friend. Zeero staggered up and hissed at him, his eyes giving him a crazy stare. Riku then noticed that his friend's eyes had turned into an eerie golden color.

            "Riku, stay back!" warned a familiar voice. Riku turned to his left and there stood Daichi (haven't seen him in a while haven't we?) "Zeero's not himself now, so don't get any closer!"

            Zeero gave a bone-shilling howl and charged at Daichi. Daichi held up his staff and managed to block Zeero's fangs from tearing at his throat. Daichi swung his staff at Zeero and knocked him into a tree. Zeero got up, spitting out blood.

            "What do you mean Zeero's not himself?" asked Riku.

            "Look at his eyes," answered Daichi. "Notice that it's turned into a golden color. In our world a fox demon's powers are measured in how many tails they have. The maximum is eight tails. If his eyes turn into a golden color it means he's about to change into an eight-tailed fox-demon. Only Zeero isn't capable of handling its powers, so instead of gaining more power he goes berserk."

            "What do we do then?"

            "This…"

            Daichi raised his staff up high; Zeero's eyes followed the staff. Then, he brought down the staff, the rings on the staff gave a soft ring, Riku noticed that the ring seemed to clear his mind and calm him down. He also noticed that his wounds had disappeared, Riku looked around and noticed everyone's wounds were healed as well. Riku returned his attention to Zeero; the fox staggered around a bit and then fainted. With a cloud of smoke, Zeero turned back into his other form.

            "Ohh…" moaned Zeero holding his head. "I don't feel so good…"

            "Are you alright?" asked Riku. Zeero nodded his head. "What did you do?"

            "It was simple," replied Daichi. "My staff allows me to calm down any type of creature when it goes berserk. The first time I had to use it was when Shiro…um…never mind…"

            "Who is that guy?" asked Yami, who had woken up.

            "Yeah," said Riku. "Who is Shiro? We keep hearing about him, but who is he?"

            "Uh…." muttered both Zeero and Daichi, both of them looked very uncomfortable.

            "You should go into that coliseum," mumbled Daichi, Riku noticed that his eyes didn't met his when he said that. "There are some Heartless activities going on down there."

            "But," started Riku.

            "I believe Kurama's friends will need your help down there," interrupted Daichi. "Yami and I will stay here and make sure more Heartless won't go down after you guys."

            "Hey!" exclaimed Zeero. "That means I have to go down there!"

            "Yeah," said Daichi. "So?"

            "But…but there are spiders down there! And bugs!"

            "What's your point?"

            "I don't wanna go!"

            "You're going and that's final!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            It ended up that Riku had to drag and cowardly fox-demon down with him as he and Kurama approached the coliseum. A door slowly opened, and a tunnel was revealed, it was too dark to tell where that dark and musty tunnel lead. Kurama didn't seem worried at all, so he went in, Riku followed, dragging Zeero along with him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Master, where are you going?"

            "I want to have a word with that Keybearer…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: Like I said, sorry for taking so long to update! I have the whole story down, but it's hard to type it all down! So until next time! Please R&R!


	15. Through the Maze

Akurei-Shinzo: Hello! I'm back! The summer's almost over, but this fic is far from it! And I'm going to high school! So expect slower updates when school starts! I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime characters, except for a few that are from my own stories.

Chapter 12: Through the Maze

            The underground maze that was located beneath the coliseum was a dark, musty place. Cobwebs covered the walls as well as dark stains that resembled horribly like blood. Luckily there were some torches lit in the corridors so they could see where they were going. Kurama had explained earlier that his friend, Yusuke, had rushed in this very place to save his girlfriend, Keiko, from the clutches of a strange creature. His other two friends, Hiei and Kuwabara, had rushed into this place with Yusuke as well, but when Kurama tried to follow them the entranced was sealed up and Heartless appeared out of nowhere and began to attack.

            "I wanna go home…" mutter Zeero, shivering from fear.

            "Come on Zeero," said Riku. "You're a demon, why should you be afraid of dark, musty mazes underground?"

            "I hate spiders, had a very bad experience with a spider-demon at one point."

            "What happened?"

            "Uh, let's not talk about it. I'm still having nightmares about it."

            "Fine, say Kurama," said Riku. "Do you have any idea where your friends could be?"

            "I'm sensing spirit energy from one of my friends, probably Hiei," replied Kurama. "But it is very faint right now…"

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            They had been walking around the maze for several hours, so it seemed, Riku had found some chests that held strange red/white balls, they turned out to be Poke balls and where immediately transferred to Professor Oak back in Shin City.

            "I smell something really bad," said Zeero after several moments of silence.

            "Same here," commented Kurama. "There's something near by with a terrible odor."

            "I don't smell anything," said Riku, but then they hear a deafening roar come from the next room.

            "What was that?" asked Kurama.

            "Let's go!" shouted Riku as they charged towards the door.

            But Zeero didn't go with them as they went into the door; instead he looked over to his left and saw another door. He hesitated and looked at Riku and Kurama entering the other room, but he felt that someone, or something in that other room needed help, and fast. So he rushed off in the other direction, both doors then slammed shut and locked themselves.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Bam! Riku and Kurama turned around to see the door had slammed shut, Riku ran towards it and tried to get it open, it was no use. The door was locked tight.

            "The door won't open!" panted Riku as he pulled on the handle.

            "Where's Zeero?" asked Kurama. Riku then noticed that the other fox-demon wasn't with them. Could he be on the other side?

            Riku didn't have much time to think where Zeero was, because at that moment a metallic monster appeared out of nowhere! It looked like a gigantic metal dragon; only it also represented a chicken! What a weird combination!

            "What is that?" asked Riku.

            "I don't know, but I don't think it's here to greet us."

            The thing gave a roar that caused several rocks from above to collapse down on them. Luckily they managed to dodge the stones, if that thing didn't crush them first, it would burry them alive! Kurama reached behind his hair.

            "Rose whip!" he yelled. The whip just banged against the steel, only leaving a simple scratch.

            "This can't be good! Wait, I have an idea!" shouted Riku. Behind him was a chest with three Pokeballs. "Please be something useful!"

            "Pidgey!"

            "Rattatta!"

            "Weedle!"

            A bird, a rat, and a bug popped out, saw the beast, and returned into their safe little homes. Riku and Kurama sweatdropped. That wasn't much help.

            "Let's try that again," said Riku holding up his Keyblades. "Signal!"

            The android appeared out of the light that shot out of the Keyhole. Signal saw the dragon and charged at it. Unfortunately he bounced off like of the dragon like a rubber ball on a concrete wall. Signal landed with a crash and vanished, looks like he won't be of any help for some time!

            "What are we going to do?" panicked Riku.

            Before the dragon got any closer another dragon, completely black, shot out of the shadows. It resembled fire, and it burned the metal dragon into a pile of ashes!

            "I know that attack!" said Kurama. "It's Hiei!"

            A short guy with black hair sticking up came out of the shadows, his eyes reminded on of the color of blood.

            "You know him?" asked Riku.

            "Who is this, Kurama?" asked the guy sharply, glaring at Riku.

            After all the explanations about the Keyblade the gang decided it was time to look for Zeero. Luckily they didn't have to look far. In fact, he came screaming down the hallway carrying something on his back.

            "Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the fox-demon as he ran by, with a cloud of smoke and Heartless after him.

            With a rose whip, Kurama managed to take out the pest problem. When Zeero calmed down enough to come out of the shadows Riku noticed that he was carrying someone on his back! Whoever it was he was really beat up!

            "It's Kuwabara!" exclaimed Kurama.

            "Looks like the idiot tangled with something stronger than him," said Hiei without much emotion.

            "Zeero," instructed Riku. "Get this guy outside so someone can heal him."

            "No problem," replied the demon. "I was hoping I was the one who can get out of this creepy place…"

            With that the fox-demon lifted up Kuwabara ("Whoa! He's heavy!" squealed Zeero) and trudged off to find an exit. The gang watched as Zeero whined and dragged the unconscious Kuwabara off into the shadows.

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            Riku, Kurama, and Hiei ran down the hallway to search for Yusuke. Riku had just learned that when the door closed off the entrance to the basement of the coliseum, the Spirit Detectives who were trapped inside had been separated by a mysterious creature (a Heartless). What could the Heartless be planning to do?

            They ran until the saw a door up ahead open on it's own, revealing a blinding light. When Riku's eyes got use to the light he noticed that inside the room was a boy with raven-colored hair trying to fight off what looked like a gigantic fish!

            "What is that?" asked Riku. The fish turned its attention to Riku and the others.

            "Get out of here!" shouted the boy, who Riku assumed, was Yusuke. The fish began to shape shift, its body began to stretch out and his fins melted into its body. The face flattened and shaped into a triangular shape, two sharp fangs glistened brightly in the dim light.

            "What kind of Heartless is that?" asked Hiei.

            "Whatever it is it seems to have the ability to change its shape into whatever it wants," said Kurama.

            Before anyone could make a move, the snake tilted its head upwards, as if it was listening to something, or someone… The ground began to shake and a dark portal appeared under Riku.

            "Ah!" yelled Riku as dark tentacles dragged him into the darkness below. Yusuke and the others watched as Riku disappeared beneath the shadows. The snake gave a cry and vanished into thin air. The basement was beginning to collapse!

            "We have to get out of here!" yelled Hiei.

            "What about Riku?" asked Kurama.

            "Never mind him!" exclaimed Yusuke. "We're running out of time!"

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            Riku landed on a barren wasteland, not like anywhere he had been before. Everything here looked like it was ready to die, nothing here seemed to breathe…

            "So we meet again," said  dark, emotionless voice. Riku turned to see the boy who had claimed to be the source of all Heartless.

            "You again!" yelled Riku as he glared at the boy. "Just who are you?"

            "You should know very well who I am…"

            "What do you mean?"

            "I am your past, present, and future," said the boy turning to face him. "Riku…I am you!"

            The boy removed his blindfold, and for the first time Riku looked into the eyes of this evil being. Those were his eyes he was staring into, except they were empty of emotion. But still, those were his eyes…

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: Sorry it took so long to update, and I'll be at a camp for a while and then I'm going to high school! So I'm really sorry if I can't update fast! But I'm not dead okay?! Please R&R!


	16. The Other Me

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm back from camp! Okay, I bet you're all dying to know who this other guy is right? Two Rikus! The plot is thickening! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga featured in this fic except for a few that are mine! Please R&R!

Chapter 13: The Other Me

            "I am your past, present, and future," said the boy turning to face him. "Riku…I am you!"

            The boy removed his blindfold, and for the first time Riku looked into the eyes of this evil being. Those were his eyes he was staring into, except they were empty of emotion. But still, those were his eyes…

            "It… it," stuttered Riku. "It can't be…you're not me! You can't be me!"

            "Oh, but I am…" said the Heartless Riku slowly walking towards Riku as he backed away. "You remember me don't you? Of course you do, we are one…"

            "NO! You're not me!"

            "I am you Riku! Don't deny it! You and I were one when we fought your old friend Sora! Then you betrayed me when you turned on Ansem! Are you going to betray me again?"

            "I didn't betray Ansem! He used me!"

            "Lair! But I'll give you one last chance, join me, or perish like your friend Sora!"

            "Sora? What did you do to him?"

            "Wouldn't you like to know?"

            Riku gritted his teeth and the Keyblades appeared in his hands. Heartless Riku gave a smirk.

            "Oh," he said. "Are you going to fight me?"

            Heartless Riku stretched out his hand, Riku felt the Dark Keyblade (the one that looked like the Berserk Fury's Buster Claw) fly out of his hand and into Heartless Riku's. The Dark Riku smirked as he held the Keyblade.

            "It's only fitting that the Dark Keyblade belongs to me, now to make sure you stay out of my way…"

            Heartless Riku lifted the Dark Keyblade and pointed it towards the ceiling. A dark beam shot forth from the Keyblade and the room began to crumble! Heartless Riku turned and smirked at Riku once more, and then he melted away into the shadows, taking the Keyblade with him!

            Riku had more things to worry about then before! Was he really the same as that other boy? Why did that Keyblade leave him? And how was he going to get out of this crumbling room! It all seemed hopeless, then behind him several wires shot out of nowhere and dragging him into the darkness…

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            Zeero was whining and pacing around the entrance to the basement as he and the others waited anxiously for Riku. But the place was collapsing faster than ever, so hope began to fade as well.

            "Riku," whined Zeero. "What's taking you so long…"

            Then a black shadow streaked past Zeero, causing him to freak out and run into a nearby tree. The shadow landed on the ground and it took the form of a black metallic dragon with ice blue eyes. It opened its chest like a door and the wires around Riku loosened up and let go as he crashed onto the ground.

            "Ow…" moaned Riku. He looked up at the black dragon that had just saved him.

            "Good job, Shadow," said Daichi as he walked up and petted the dragon.

            "Shadow?" asked Riku.

            "He's an organoid from Planet Zi, he can fuse with humans and Zoids to boost their power. I was planning on giving him to you so he could help Sieg travel through space," explained Daichi.

            "Did you seal the Keyhole?" asked Yami.

            "No," answered Riku. "I couldn't find it."

            "The Keyhole has yet to reveal itself, so I guess we'll just have to keep on coming back until we find it," said Zeero. "By the way, you seemed depressed, Riku. Is anything wrong?"

            "Huh? No, I'm fine…"

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            When they made it back to Shin City a lady on a motorcycle came speeding up towards them.

            "Can we help you?" asked Riku.

            "Is one of you Yami?" asked the woman.

            "Yes," answered Yami.

            "Please come back with me to the hospital," said Officer Jenny (noticed her badge) "There's something you should see."

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            "I'm really sorry, Yami," said Amaya as she lead them into a room with three people in comas.

            "Joey! Tristan! Tea!" yelled Yami as he ran towards their bedsides.  There were black holes where their hearts were suppose to be…

            "Ryuseiu and Hitomi found them lying on the ground," said Amaya sadly. "But they couldn't find you other friend…"

            Zeero nodded his head towards the door and they left Yami alone with his friends, who couldn't open their eyes at the moment.

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            "Dam!" cried Riku as he hit his fist against the wall. He was on the roof of the hospital because he wanted to be alone. Another person he had let down, maybe he wasn't suppose to save everyone. Maybe he was one with the Heartless…

            "Would you really destroy people's hearts for your own good?" asked a strangely familiar voice. Riku turned and saw someone standing by the fence around the roof. This guy had with hair, and strangely a pair of cat ears and a tail… Wait a second…

            "I know you," said Riku. "Shiro…"

            Shiro slowly turned and face Riku, his amber eyes staring at him as if they saw through his heart.

            "Would you really let people suffer?"

            "Wha…"

            "Why are you here? Why are you fighting? What are you fighting for?"

            "Why are you asking me all these questions?"

            "Who are you, Riku?"

            "What are you trying to say?"

            "If you don't know who you are, you'll never prevent the incident that is about to happen…"

            "Wait! There is something I have to ask you…"

            Shiro was surrounded by mist, then the half-demon faded away with the fog. Riku stood alone thinking about what he had just heard. What was Shiro trying to tell him? What was the answer to the riddles hidden within his questions? What did Shiro mean by, the incident?

            "What the?"

            A loud explosion center of town, it was the Heartless he saw in the demon world. This time it was in a shape of a gigantic bubble and it was heading towards the hospital. It wasn't alone; hundreds of smaller Heartless with it. A crimson phoenix landed on the ground beside him, Ryuseiu (haven't seen him in a while) transformed back into his human form.

            "Riku," said Satoru (remember, Ryuseiu is only called that when in his phoenix form. Satoru is his human name). "The Heartless are headed this way! We need you and the others to help! I don't think Hitomi can hold them off much longer!"

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            Riku and Zeero followed the red bird as it flew towards the Heartless; Yami had stayed behind, refusing to leave his friends at the moment. The bubble shot out beams of dark light, it went through the hearts of the people and they fell to the ground, for their hearts were stolen. Riku quickly summoned his Keyblade.

            "Riku!" exclaimed Zeero. "Where's your other Keyblade?"

            "Uh… it sort of got…stolen…"

            "Riku! You need both of your Keyblades to fight off Heartless. They are light and dark! One cannot do anything without the other!"

            "So are you saying I can't fight!"

            "Well…yes…"

            "Riku, so glad you could make it…" said a cold voice. Riku and Zeero looked up to see Heartless Riku standing on top of a building holding the dark Keyblade. Zeero looked at Riku, then Heartless Riku, and then Riku again.

            "Wow Riku, I didn't know you could be in two places at once!" said Zeero.

            "Idiot!" screeched Heartless Riku. "I'm his dark half!"

            "…Oh…run away!"

            The fox demon went zooming off, and ran into a garbage can and toppled inside. Riku and Heartless Riku stared at the garbage can that was beginning to roll down the alleyway. Then their gazes returned to one another.

            "What do you want?" asked Riku.

            "Since you've escaped my trap I guess I'll just have to get rid of you like this…" said Heartless Riku. Chains fastened themselves around Riku, making him unable to move! The gigantic bubble moved towards him slowly. "Now finish him off my precious Heartless!"

            The bubble shot a beam of darkness at Riku; Riku could do nothing but stand there, waiting for the end… He closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain, but it never came. Instead a piercing cry of a bird was heard, Riku opened his eyes to see a crimson phoenix shielding him from the dark beam. Ryuseiu's eyes darkened and he fell towards the ground, the feathers slowly fell off of the phoenix, turning him back into his human form. Satoru landed on the ground with a thump, a dark hole replacing his heart…

            "No!" yelled Riku.

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: Oh… Ryuseiu loses his heart! What will happen next? Will Riku ever get his dark Keyblade back? The plot is thickening, so if you want to know more keep reading and keep reviewing!


	17. Regrets

Akurei-Shinzo: High school is killing me! You middle-schoolers and elementary kids have all the fun! Beware, now that I'm in high school I can't update as fast. So please bear with me! I don't own Kingdom Hearts of most of the anime/manga characters! Please R&R!

Chapter 14: Regrets

            "No!" yelled Riku as the phoenix landed on the ground with a crash. Satoru lay on the ground, with dark hole replacing his heart…

            "I didn't expect to capture such a powerful heart so soon, in fact I was wondering how many Heartless it would take to capture this phoenix's heart. Who knew that it would be this easy?" said Heartless Riku. "But his sacrifice will not help you, your Heart will soon belong to darkness!"

            A katana shot through the Heartless's body, Riku turned to see Hitomi, very injury, but very angry, panting a glaring at Heartless Riku. Blood was dripping from his mouth and his kimono was ripped and torn into rags. Riku also noticed that Hitomi's eyes seemed to have a crimson tint to them now.

            "Do you think," asked Hitomi, coughing up more blood. "That I'll just let you steal his heart after what Ryuseiu had to do? Then you can forget it!"

            "Oh really?" asked Heartless Riku, unimpressed. "What can you do? You can barely stand up!"

            An arrow shot through the Heartless, causing it to wail in pain. Riku noticed on the rooftop was Katana and Katsuro. The two leapt onto the ground and rushed to Riku's side.

            "I don't really mind fighting all of you, after all, why should I complain when most of my targets are in one area? Now my Heartless, attack!"

            Riku watched as the three fought off the onslaught of Heartless. It seemed that the gigantic bubble was producing more Heartless by the second! Unfortunately the three fighters were too preoccupied with the smaller armies Heartless to pay any attention to the gigantic bubble Heartless floating overhead.

            Riku's gaze then drifted to Satoru's lifeless body lying on the ground; he had sacrificed his own heart so that Riku can still possess his. Why did he do it? What good would it do?

            'I can't lose now," thought Riku. 'Not after what Ryuseiu had just done for me!'

            The chains that had held him now broke and shattered, Riku's Light Keyblade formed in his hand and he charged towards his darker half. Heartless Riku, Dark Keyblade in hand, blocked the Light Keyblade's attack. A tremendous force came from both Keyblades; the force blew up several Heartless as well.

            "We have to leave," said Katana.

            "Why?" asked Hitomi.

            "Let's just say it's not a good idea to stay while the two Keyblades are fighting against each other," answered Katsuro.

            "Let's move it!" shouted Katana. Then she and Katsuro took off while Hitomi went back for Satoru's lifeless body and limped away.

            "I'll kill you!" shouted Riku in rage as he brought down his Keyblade once more. Heartless Riku also brought down his Keyblade, but the two keys kept canceling each other out. "I won't forgive you! I'll never stop fighting until you're finished!"

            "Easier said than done!" countered Heartless Riku as he leapt away. After a few minutes the Dark Keyblade flew from Heartless Riku's hand and back into Riku's. "What?"

            Riku himself was surprised, the shock soon faded when the gigantic bubble Heartless shot a beam at him. Luckily Riku managed to pull himself out of shock just in time to dodge the blow. Riku feel to the ground from the force of the blast, when he looked up the Heartless was hovering above him, ready to strike, but before anyone could do anything a spear shot through the air between Riku and the Heartless. When the spear struck the ground a tremendous force shot out from all sides, Riku felt himself losing consciousness, before he blacked out, he saw his darker side and the bubble Heartless being dissolved by the force.

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            Riku opened his eyes to find himself once again in the hospital, Zeero and Hitomi were by his side.

            "Thank goodness," sighed Zeero. "For a moment there I thought you wouldn't wake up!"

            "What happened to Ryuseiu?" asked Riku sitting up. Zeero and Hitomi frowned and turned away. "It was all my fault wasn't it…"

            "No," said Hitomi slowly. "It wasn't your fault… Let me tell you something though, don't let his sacrifice be in vain…"

            After Hitomi had spoken they heard a cry from another room, it was Amaya. It seemed that she took Satoru's sacrifice too well. Hitomi then left the room, As soon as he left Yami walked in.

            "Are you alright Riku?" he asked. "I heard what had happened."

            "…I think I need to be alone for a while…." said Riku walking out of the room.

            "You should really rest!" suggested Zeero. "Rain said you need to recover from…"

            "I'm fine!" shouted Riku as he ran out of the room. Leaving Yami and Zeero alone watching after him sadly.

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            As Riku walked down an alleyway he saw someone in front of him, hiding in the shadows he looked at the figure. It was Takashi, the Necromancer. He seemed to be in pain, he was kneeling down and was grabbing his right wrist. Riku had to stop himself from gasping as a blue light came out of Takashi's body, the light materialized beside him as a wolf. A rather strange wolf indeed, the wolf's fur was like a glowing blue flame and his paws were like a burning white flame. The wolf's golden eyes stared down at Takashi with worry and its silver horn, which was at the center of its forehead, glowed brilliantly.

            "The darkness is growing Ragnarok," said Takashi as he continued to clench his wrist. "I can feel it…"

            "You should rest a bit," suggested Ragnarok.

            "No, I won't stop until the last of them is dead!"

            "You won't get anything done in your condition now, and it seems that we have a visitor…"

            "What? What are you doing here Keybearer?!" asked Takashi with anger. He slowly stood up and faced Riku. It was then Riku noticed that both of Takashi's arms were covered and dripping in crimson red blood.

            "Takashi!" shouted Riku. "Your arms…"

            "I'm fine!" shouted Takashi, his eyes were now aflame. Riku had no idea why Takashi was all pissed off, but it seemed to be a good idea not to anger him further.

            "I'm sorry…" said Riku backing away a bit.

            "No…" said Takashi slowly, anger seeming to fade a bit. "I should be the one to be sorry, sorry for not doing enough to save her…"

            "Who?"

            "It's no one… There is something you should know though… You know that a Keybearer is destined to bring salvation or destruction right?"

            "Yeah…"

            "Well don't forget this, your power is the same power that the Heartless use to steal people's hearts!"

            "What?"

            "That's right…You are the source of all Heartless…You are the one who spreads the darkness…Beware of you power!"

            After saying that Takashi walked into the darkness, fading away into the shadows. Ragnarok hesitated and then followed his master into the darkness. This left Riku alone with his thoughts, he was the same as the darkness? Why wasn't anything making sense anymore?!

            "You don't have time to get depressed," said  mysterious voice from behind. Riku turned to face another boy about his age. This boy had turquoise hair and lilac eyes, and in his hand was the spear that had been thrown between Riku and the Heartless!

            "You're the one who…" stammered Riku. "Who are you?"

            "You may called me Amano," said the boy. "I cannot reveal my true name yet."

            "Why can't I be depressed? I'm the same as the darkness!"

            "You obviously forgotten the clue Shiro has given you…" said Amano.

            "What?"

            "_Sometimes the find the light, you must looked within the deepest part of the darkness…"_

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: So sorry I haven't updated in forever! I have so much homework to do! Amano is a character in my story Endless Onslaught. If you want to learn more about Amano or Takashi read my stories on fictionpress.net. My pen-name is still Akurei-Shinzo and I hope you really enjoy those stories! (Note: Those stories are still in progress as well. While you're reading those stories you might want to check out Hacker: Registered. A lot of people seem to like it!) Until next time! Adios!


	18. The Lighthouse

Akurei-Shinzo: I'm back! So how are you guys? I'm still very busy, but I'm updating because I care! So I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please R&R! (I don't own most of the anime/manga or Kingdom Hearts)

Chapter 15: The Lighthouse

            "_Sometimes the find the light, you must looked within the deepest part of the darkness…"_

            Riku stared in disbelief at Amano, how could he have known… He didn't seem to be from Zeero's world, but how would he have known… Could he possess some information that he might need? Before Riku could say anything Amano leapt up into the air onto a rooftop and took off.

            "Wait!" yelled Riku as he jumped after him. "There's something I need to ask you!"

            When Riku reached the rooftop Amano had already vanished. Riku sighed, but then something caught his eye. A lighthouse? What would a lighthouse be doing in an area like this? It had a very dim light; it seemed to be spreading some sort of light source to this dark town. Riku leapt off the building and went to find Zeero and Yami, if there was something there they all needed to check it out.

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            "Where is that fox-demon?" asks Riku. When he got to the hospital he had learned that Zeero had already taken off.

            "I don't know," answered Yami. "But he said he needed to meet with someone. What was it about that lighthouse you were talking about?"

            "I saw it when I was on top of a building, I saw a strange light come from a lighthouse. I know this sounds strange, but I saw what I saw."

            "Look over there!" exclaimed Yami. There it was, the lighthouse.

            "Let's go!"

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            The lighthouse looked very run down when they got there, it looked very torn up and very fragile. As Riku got closer he felt some kind of hope, almost like someone was comforting him, telling him not to give up.

            "Should we go in?" asked Yami. Riku nodded and opened the doorway.

            The insides of the lighthouse looked very dusty and the spiraling staircase looked like it had some kind of mold growing on it. Riku took a quick look around and began to climb the long, winding staircase.

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            "You wanted to talk to me?" asked Zeero. He was on top of a building near the lighthouse. Shiro slowly stepped out of the shadows, amber eyes still possessing the same sad look they had always had.

            "You know what it is we're going to talk about," said Shiro. Zeero lowered his ears and frowned.

            "The time is coming right?"

            "(nods) You won't be able to help him any more soon…"

            "But isn't that like abandoning him?"

            "Don't you already abandon him when he fights off the Heartless?"

            "But this is different! When…if he faces…"

            "You can't help him, if you do then your existence will be at stake!"

            "Stupid Sonraku secret…"

            "Zeero, when the time comes, you have to leave him. Your job is only to protect him until the time comes… Ryu and Katsu are trying to protect the other two from the Heartless."

            "Shiro… isn't there some way we can help him when the time comes?"

            "No… if we do then it could be the end of us…"

            "By the way? What ever happened to that other Keybearer? Sora was his name right?"

            "It's too late for Sonraku to help him or the king… Their only hope now is him…"

            "Do you think he'll ever figure out what you meant when you said _sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness_?"

            Zeero turned to face Shiro, but the half-demon was already gone. (Shiro really likes to vanish into the darkness a lot doesn't he?) Zeero gave a half-hearted sigh and turned to face the lighthouse. Then he transformed into a fox and slipped into the shadows.

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            "What's that?" asked Yami.

            Riku and Yami had reached the top of the lighthouse, in the top room was a crystal, floating in a glass cylinder that surrounded it. It looked so frail, but strong when emitting it's light to the world.

            "I see you've found the light to this world," said a voice. Riku and Yami turned to a dark corner and out came the Necromancer.

            "Takashi? What are you doing here?" asked Riku.

            "You know him?" asked Yami.

            "I guard the light to this world," said Takashi.

            "The light to this world?" asked Riku.

            "Yes," explained Takashi. "In every world there is a light that prevents the darkness from engulfing that world. But when that light is gone or if the world's keyhole manages to corrupt that world that place will die. Do you know why it is important for survivors to make it to another world? Because if there isn't any survivors then that world is permanently destroyed."

            "What do you mean?" asked Yami.

            "I'm saying that if there isn't any survivors from a world that is swallowed by the darkness there is no way of reviving that world. You see, one heart contains a certain connection to that world; if the connection is completely gone then there is no hope for that world. But if the light to the world manages to escape then that world isn't completely gone, it's still there, but very weak." Said Takashi.

            "And I believe the light to your world is still out there," said Amano stepping out of the shadows. "That's why you are able to draw your power from the shadow realm, Yami. That is why you are still able to fight."

            "Do you mean?" asked Yami. Both Takashi and Amano nodded.

            "Am I missing something?" asked Riku, who was very lost. "What are you talking about?"

            "It's nothing," said Yami.

            "Be on your guard," said Takashi suddenly. Both him and Amano began to scan the area, as if they were looking for something. Riku and Yami looked at each other, then they too began to look around. Slowly, out of the shadows, came the Heartless!

            "Damn!" said Amano. "They just keep on coming back!"

            "You're the guardian of the doorway!" shouted Takashi. "Why can't you stop them from coming?"

            "I don't know…"

            "We'll talk about it later," said Takashi. "Ragnarok!"

            The wolf spirit slowly came out of Takashi's body and opened its golden eyes. Gracefully it landed on the ground between the Heartless and the crystal; then it let out a bone-chilling howl. Many of the Heartless were destroyed, Amano then charged at the rest of the Heartless with his spear in hand, with a single swipe of his weapon his was able to dissect many of the Heartless.

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            After a few seconds of fighting the Necromancer and Amano managed to defeat all of the Heartless.

            "They just keep coming back for more don't they?" asked Takashi.

            "Why can't you just move the crystal to another place?" asked Riku.

            "Try it yourself," said Amano. As Riku tried to touch the small gem the glass container gave his an electric shock, forcing his hand back. "That force field prevents us from touching it, but for some reason it doesn't affect the Heartless…"

            "That's why we always have to watch over this thing," said Takashi.

            "I see," said Riku.

            "You'd better get going," said Takashi. "There's another world out there that is about to be consumed by the darkness. You have to get there as soon as possible."

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            "Where have you been?" asked Riku. They had met up with Zeero at the weapons shop.

            "Uh…nowhere," said the fox-demon. "By the way, there's another survivor from another world that gave me this book. Her name is Utena and she says that this book contains a whole world in there."

            Zeero handed the book over to Riku; it was an old, crimson-red book with old Chinese letters printed on the cover. For some unknown reason, Riku was able to understand the title of the book.

            "The Universe of the Four Gods…"

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: So sorry I haven't updated in forever! I have so much homework to do! It's not easy have all honor classes, plus I was grounded! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Please review!


	19. The Mystery Deepens…

Akurei-Shinzo: Hello! Notice the plot thickens? I hope you are enjoying this fic! It's getting pretty dark. I don't own Kingdom Hearts or a few of the anime I put in here. Please R&R!

Chapter 16: The Mystery Deepens…

            "Maybe there's someone in the weapons shop that can help us with the book!" said Zeero leading them into the back of the weapon's shop with the two doors. (You didn't think I'd forget about them did you? Or did you guys already forget?) "Let's open this one!"

            As soon as Zeero opened the door a cloud of steam filled the hallway. They heard tons of squeaking and after the smoke screen cleared they saw a bunch of black fuzz balls hopping up and down before them.

            "Yipe!" screamed Zeero. "Save me!"

            "Zeero," said Riku. "They're only an inch tall…"

            "But they're staring at me…"muttered Zeero still cowering behind Yami.

            "You soot balls get back to work!" yelled a voice. The guys looked inside and saw.

            "It's spider-man!" screeched Zeero. "Literally…"

            "Who're you calling spider man?" asked an old man with six arms. He crawled over to them with his long arms and looked at them with his beady eyes. "You're the Keyblade Master aren't you?"

            "Yes," answered Riku.

            "My name is Kamaji, if you ever want anything synthesized you're welcome to come here. If you bring me the right items I can create a powerful weapon for you."

            "Thanks."

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            "Let's open this door!" said Zeero.

            "Knowing you it'll be some sort of monster ready to devour us," said Yami. Zeero didn't listen and opened the door.

            "Ack!" screamed Zeero leaping behind Riku. An old woman with an extremely big nose was sitting in from of a fire with an incredibly large baby! (Hard delivery is all I can say)

            "Who are you?" demanded the old woman.

            "I'm Riku," stuttered Riku after a few minutes.

            "So," said the woman. "You're the Keybearer everyone's talking about. Well come on in, what can I do to help? My name is Yubaba."

            "Can you fix this?" asked Riku handing her the book. Yubaba took a look as it, waved her hand over it and the book's seal was broken.

            "There you go," said Yubaba. "It's a really interesting book, you should read it. But some of its pages are missing, they're probably scattered among the worlds."

            "Thank you."

            "Lin, come here," called Yubaba. A young woman with long brown hair came out.

            "What is it?" she snapped.

            "Bring him the item," said Yubaba. Lin took a good look at Riku, Yami, and Zeero (who was still cowering behind Riku) and went into the back room. She came back a few seconds later with a bright gem that glowed a bright amber light.

            "Here you go," said Lin. "Take good care of him."

            "Him?" asked Yami.

            "His name is Haku, Kohaku to be exact," explained Yubaba. "His heart was nearly devoured when he tried to save this young girl named Chihiro."

            "I see…" said Riku.

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            "Let's see what's in this book!" said Zeero. When he opened it a blinding red flash filled the room and then darkness fell…

            "Uh…Where are we?" asked Riku as he woke up. Yami and Zeero were on the ground beside him and appeared to be fine.

            "Are you alright?" asked a voice. A young woman wearing a red priestess outfit stood over them with worry in her eyes.

            "Yeah, I think…" said Riku.

            "My name is Miaka," said the girl. "Have you seen them?"

            "Who?"

            "Oh, you aren't from around here, they're my friends but they disappeared right before we were about to summon Suzaku. I hope they're alright…"

            "I see…"

            "I wonder if I'll disappear as well, but if I do who will help Yui?"

            Riku watched Miaka walk into a building and turned to Zeero and Yami, who were now getting up.

            "I guess this world needs help too," said Yami.

            "But you heard Yubaba," said Zeero. "Some of this book's pages are missing, so I say we find them!"

            A blinding red flash of light appeared again and the three found themselves once again in Yubaba's room.

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            "I'll meet up with you guys later," said Zeero as he rushed off. The group had decided to get some supplies before heading off again.

            Zeero rushed down an alleyway, sniffing the ground as if he was looking for something or someone.

            "Are you still being a lapdog to that half-breed?" asked a bored voice. Zeero looked up and there were the two fox demons Zen and Sin. Both demons leapt down from the building and landed besides Zeero.

            "Why are you still following that half-breed's orders?" asked Sin.

            "Because **_they_** need our help!" said Zeero.

            "It wouldn't effect us if the Heartless won," said Zen. "After all our world is…"

            "Quiet!" panicked Zeero looking around.

            "The only reason me and Sin are keeping Sonraku's secret quiet is because if they now the truth about Shin City we won't be able to beat up the Heartless!"

            "I must admit they are pretty good fighters," said Sin.

            "But, but," stammered Zeero.

            "Look stupid," said Zen. "We don't care what happens, if it doesn't effect us then why bother worrying about it?"

            Zeero frowned at the two demons, no wonder they were upgraded to devil-class when they gained eight tails. They are like devils! (In Youkai Shinzo a fox-demon's pride is his tail. 3 tails = normal; 5 tail = very-powerful; 8 tails = devil. So basically the more tails you have the more powerful you are.)

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            Riku wondered around the streets of Shin City looking hopelessly lost, he was reflecting back on what he had thought about Sora a year ago. When he thought Sora had abandoned him and Kairi for Donald and Goofy, now what was he doing? Replacing Sora and Kairi with Yami and Zeero? What if he hadn't gone with the darkness? What if he given the situation a little more thought? What if…

            "So… you're the Keyblade Master everyone's talking about," said a voice from above. Riku looked up and saw a fifteen-year old boy staring down at him with crimson red eyes. The boy leapt down and stood in front of Riku, this guy had the ears of a dragon and a dragon's tail! His gray hair was blown carelessly around in the wind and he sort of resembled Shiro and Kuro in a way…

            "Who are you?" asked Riku making the Keyblades appear.

            "Ryu," said the dragon-boy. "I'm sure you've heard of me."

            "You're the one Arisu's been talking about…"

            "Yup! And I'm sure you've met my brother Shiro and Kuro right?"

            "What? You're their brother? How can you be related to them!?"

            "Sure, everyone picks on me cause I'm not half cat-demon like them! So what if I'm half dragon-demon?!"

            "Uh…nothing!"

            Ryu glared at Riku for a while and then leapt into the shadows of the night.

            "Don't worry about Ryu," said Shiro as he came out of the darkness.

            "You really have to stop doing that," said Riku who almost had a heart attack.

            "Sorry."

            "Shiro…by any chance do you know where my friends Sora and Kairi might be?"

            "…Kairi I'm not so sure of, but Sora and the King are trapped within the Heartless Realm."

            "The Heartless Realm! Can you show me how to get there?"

            "To be honest, you can't get there, not now anyways. You'll have to find someone to install this into Sieg."

            Shiro handed Riku a small emerald-green disk.

            "Can't Washu or someone from Planet Zi install it?" asked Riku.

            "I'm afraid not, they don't understand how to use it. Perhaps you'll find someone in a world you visit that can help you install it…"

            With that Shiro once again vanished into the shadows, Riku tried to follow him but Shiro wasn't anywhere in sight. Why did Shiro keep helping him anyways? What were his intentions? How did he know all of this information?

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            Yami wandered around the alleyways of Shin City, it seemed like everyone was trying to do everything they could to stop the Heartless. He saw the guy named Kai use a top to defeat several Heartless, there was the boy Ikki and his robot named Medabee, and there was the girl Ceres, and lots more. He wondered it maybe…

            "Don't worry," said a small voice behind him. Yami turned around to see a ten-year old boy with silver hair and emerald green eyes staring at him. "You'll find him."

            "What…How do you know?" asked Yami. Upon closer inspection of the boy, Yami noticed that he had the same silver cat ears and tail that Katsuo had.

            "Don't give up hope," said the boy. "And if you do, then you'll never find him."

            "Your… Katsu, aren't you?"

            "Please don't tell my brother you've seen me," said Katsu. "He'd be real mad at you."

            A blinding flash of light appeared and Yami held up his arm to shield his eyes from the light. When the light faded no one was there, the street was empty. How did that little kid know?

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            Riku began to walk towards the door of Shin City, but something just wouldn't leave him mind. The survivors from the world, Sonraku, just didn't seem to fit into place. Unlike the other survivors from other worlds their hearts had a different feeling around them… he didn't quite know how to explain it, but the hearts from Sonraku didn't seem to be affected much by the Heartless, in fact, their hearts didn't seem to be affected at all.

            "I wonder," muttered Riku. "Is it possible…"

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            Takashi and Amano were on top of a roof on a nearby building watching over Riku. Amano, having the ability to read minds, read Riku's thoughts.

            "He could be right…" mumbled Amano.

            "About what?" asked Takashi. 

            "Sonraku, that world is a complete mystery… I wonder if it is possible that there is some connection between… never mind…"

            "Continue…"

            "Is it possible that…."

            Suddenly the buildings of Shin City began to fade, like an old television screen's image. The ground started to shake and the winds picked up enormous speeds.

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            "What's happening?" asked Riku he saw the place fading away. "What's going on?"

            Then Riku saw strange ancient buildings take the place of the city, this place… it felt… familiar… Had he been here before?

            After a few minutes, Shin City returned to normal, but what had just happened?

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            "Whew," sighed Zeero. "That was close! They almost figured it out…"

            Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

Akurei-Shinzo: Sorry I didn't update in a while. High school is no walk in a park, it's more like a hike through the mountains, especially since I'm carrying a backpack with at least a ton of books and I have to climb up several flights of stairs!


	20. Friend or Foe?

Akurei-Shinzo: Sorry it took so long to update! I just got back from a car trip! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or some of the other anime/manga series I use in here! Please R&R!

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Chapter 17: Friend of Foe?

            "I wonder what just happened," said Yami as he looked out the hospital window. Shin City was fading away a moment ago, and now it was back to normal… Then he turned and saw Amaya come out of a room, eyes red from crying. "Amaya?"

            "Oh," said Amaya, wiping away the tears. "Hi Yami…"

            "Are you alright?"

            "Um… I… How are your friends?"

            "Still the same… and Satoru?"

            "…He's…" Amaya's eyes began to water. "I'm sorry!"

            Yami watched as Amaya ran down the hallway crying. He shook his head and began to walk towards the exit.

            "You'd had better hurry up," said a voice.

            Yami turned to see a young man with long black hair and black cat ears and even a tail!

            "You again?! Just who are you?!" demanded Yami.

            "A friend," said the boy. "Or perhaps a foe…"

            "…"

            "Confused?" questioned Kuro.

            "What were you saying a moment ago? To hurry up?"

            "If you don't stop the enemy soon, more will suffer…"

            The lights suddenly went off and Kuro was gone by the time they came back on. Yami looked around the room and saw no sign of the cat-demon. What did he mean by the enemy? It sounded as though he wasn't talking about the Heartless, but there wasn't any other enemies out there to fight, were there?

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            "Let's go," said Riku as they boarded Sieg. Shadow gave a roar and fused with Sieg. The door opened and they raced through the stars towards the next world.

            "Orgh….." moaned Zeero looking a bit sick.

            "What's wrong?" asked Riku.

            "I think I'm Zoid-sick…."

            "Look that way," muttered Riku. "Hey Yami, you seem a little more quiet than usual. Is something wrong?"

            "What?" asked the spirit, who was deep in thought just a moment ago. "It's nothing…"

            "Look!" exclaimed Zeero, who suddenly felt better. "We're here!"

            The world they were currently looking at was covered with crystals. Buildings were crystals, yet they seemed to have a sad feeling coming out of them.

            "What's wrong with that world?" asked Riku.

            "Looks like the light's almost out," stated Zeero. "We'd better hurry!"

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            "I'll go look around and see if there's anyone around," said Zeero. "You guys wait here."

            With that Zeero transformed into a fox and took off, leaving Riku and Yami behind.

            "Riku," said Yami. "You remember that cat-demon named Kuro?"

            "Yeah," answered Riku. "What about him?"

            "While I was at the hospital he said something about stopping the enemy…"

            "Did he mean the Heartless?"

            "I don't think he meant the Heartless…"

            "Then what other enemy could he be talking about?"

            "…I don't know…"

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            Zeero, still in fox-form, sniffed the ground with his nose. He didn't really like the scent of this place, it felt as though it was only moments away before being swallowed by darkness.

            "Funny," said a voice from above. "Meeting you here out of all places."

            Zeero transformed back into his half-demon form and looked up. The priest Daichi was calmly sitting on a crystal looking down at him.

            "What are you doing here, Daichi?" asked Zeero.

            "I came to see this world," answered the priest. " It seems to be fading away pretty fast…"

            "…Hey Daichi, remembered what Shiro said to us when we took this mission?"

            "Yeah, what about it?"

            "I'm starting to feel bad, I mean…I feel like I'm leading the Keybearer into a trap…like I'm betraying him…"

            "You're not betraying him Zeero," said Daichi. "This is our only hope, Sonraku's only hope… Our job is to get the Keybearer to help out world…"

            "But…"

            "Like Shiro said, it's our fate and we must accept it…no matter what it is…"

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            "See anyone Zeero?" asked Riku as the fox returned.

            "Nope," answered Zeero. "No one."

            "We should set up camp," said Yami. "We'll looked for people tomorrow…"

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Riku's Dream

            _Riku was running, but from what he wasn't sure of. He was running through a dark land, with broken down temples and dead bodies everywhere. Where was he?_

_            As he continued to run he saw people up ahead, as he came closed the ground started to crumble and he fell into darkness. Then one by one, he saw Daichi, Katana, Kuro, Katsuro, two other fox-demons he didn't recognize, a small boy, Ryu, and Shiro get stabbed by the Keyblades._

_            "What's going on?" asked Riku. What was this dream telling him? He watched the hearts fly off into the sky and vanish._

_            The bodies of the people of Sonraku were now zombie-like, they were reaching out to him, weapons drawn as if they wanted to fight. They pulled Riku down with them, into the darkness…_

_            Suddenly, Riku found himself under a tree, looking at a vast ocean. He heard rustling from above and looked up. There sat Zeero, but his eyes were covered by the shadows casted by his hair._

_            "Zeero?" asked Riku. The fox-demon looked down, but Riku still couldn't see his eyes. Then Zeero transformed into a fox again and lunged down at him, claws outstretched and fangs glistening. Riku was paralyzed and all he could do was scream as the demon was about to tear out his throat!_

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            "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Riku as he awoke in a cold sweat. He sat up, panting, trying to shake off the fear. "What was that? What was that dream telling me?"

            Riku looked at Zeero, who was in fox-form, the kitsune was curled up into a fuzzy reddish-brown ball and was snoring slightly. That dream couldn't have been right, there was no way Zeero would try to attack him…would he?

_Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: I hope you all like that chapter! Now I have to go study for my finals! See you around!


	21. Catastrophe

Akurei-Shinzo: Sorry it took so long to update! Please forgive me! It was a mixture of being grounded and having a lot of homework! Here's the next chapter! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the other anime/manga (except for a few) I used in this fic! Please R&R!

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Chapter 18: Catastrophe

            Riku looked at Zeero, who was in fox-form, the kitsune was curled up into a fuzzy reddish-brown ball and was snoring slightly. That dream couldn't have been right, there was no way Zeero would try to attack him…would he?

            Riku sat by the campfire and looked into the glowing red flames, which flames reminded one of a python's flickering tongue. That dream… what was it trying to tell him?

            "Nothing is what it seems anymore…" said a dark voice.

            Riku jumped up is surprise and turned to see a figure cloaked in black, it was a young man who looked to be about eighteen years old. On top of his midnight blue hair rested a black, pointed hat. His eyes were strange brown color, or at least his left eye was, his right eye was covered by his bangs. He was very pale and a cloud of gloom seem to hang around him.

            "Who are you?" demanded Riku.

            "Wouldn't you like to know," said the stranger.

            "Well, if you won't tell me who you are, then tell me why are you here!"

            "Do you trust me?"

            "…No…"

            "Good, for I have given no reason for you to trust me…Even if I did would you trust me?"

            "What are you trying to say?"

            "Should you trust all of your companions?"

            "Why not?!"

            "You are too trusting… It could be dangerous for you. The third enemy may show up soon."

            "Third enemy? Who are they?"

            "Who is the third enemy you ask? They are the nonexistent. Well, they exist, but they don't. They are alive, but they are also dead. They are the darkness, yet they are the true light…"

            "What are you trying to say?"

            Suddenly, without warning, the stranger vanished. As Riku stood on the ground, confused, little did he know he was being watched. Zen and Sin, Zeero's 'friends' were hidden within the shadows watching the group.

            "That was interesting," said Zen. "I wonder how he knows about our … 'situation'…"

            "He is a friend of Amano," answered Sin. "They might have seen 'it'…"

            "Perhaps, but we can't afford anymore close calls such as that anymore…"

            Sin nodded and the two of them transformed into devil foxes and disappeared into the darkness…

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            "Yawn…" yawned the kitsune as he awoke. "What a good night's rest! Hey Riku, something wrong?"

            "Huh?" said Riku, startled. "No, nothing is wrong…"

            "Are you sure?" asked Yami. "You look troubled…"

            "I'm fine," said Riku, smiling sadly. Something that guy said was in fact true, maybe he had been too trusting… But, these were his friends… Could that guy have been trying to turn him against them? Riku decided to put all of that aside, for now, he was sure that Yami and Zeero were his friends and that they would never betray him.

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            "When did all these guys show up?" asked Yami. They had been walking along minding their own business, when suddenly a group of Heartless popped up out of nowhere and started attacking them.

            "Time to see what this summon can do," said Riku. "Haku!"

            A pale blue light shot forth from both Keyblades, which reminded one of a gentle river. A dragon with a head of a wolf, body of a snake, and bright, water-like scales appeared. The river spirit let out a howl and a flood of water started to move towards them, washing away the Heartless. Riku and Yami had to hold onto nearby crystal towers to keep from being swept away. As soon as all of the Heartless were gone the water began to reside and the dragon returned into the Keyblade.

            "Yami," asked Riku. "Where's Zeero?"

            "Help!" screeched the demon. The two of them looked up and saw the poor kitsune stuck on top of a crystal; Zeero hung onto the crystal for dear life. "Don't just stand there! Help me!"

            "What are you doing up there?" asked Yami.

            "I can swim, so I climbed up here. But then I realized I'm also afraid of heights…"

            "Sigh, just stay there," sighed Riku. "We'll get you down…"

            "Who goes there?" shouted a voice. Riku and Yami turned to see a young girl with short black hair and dark eyes.  She wore a sailor outfit and in her hand was a staff. Zeero fell off the crystal because of the girl's sudden appearance.

            "Who are you?" questioned the girl.

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            "So that is why we are here," said Riku as he finished explaining his story to the royal family of Crystal Tokyo, or those who were there at least. The only ones who had survived the onslaught of Heartless attacks were the king, the two princesses, and the girl they had met earlier, Sailor Saturn. Oh yes, and there were also the three cats, but other then that, everyone else had perished. Queen Serenity might have survive the attacks, but her current whereabouts were unknown.

            "I see," said the King, Darien. "Do you think you're able to save this world? It may be too late."

            "If he goes into the Heart of this world there may still be a chance," said Zeero.

            "The problem is," said Yami. "How do we get there?"

            "The Keyblade should lead you to it," answered Zeero. "Summon them and see…"

            Riku awkwardly summoned the two Keyblades, they slowly began to vibrate and then a flash of light shot forth from both tips. The light went straight through the wall in the throne room.

            "The Heart is in there?" asked Darien. "It can't be, there is no way to get in there…"

            Zeero turned into his fox-form and began to sniff around. Then he started to push against the wall. Riku and Yami, though confused, went over and help the demon push against the wall. Soon the wall began to crack and then the crystals gave way and a doorway was revealed.

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            "Why aren't you coming Zeero?" asked Riku. He, Yami, and Darien were all set to go to the Core, but for some reason the fox-demon refused to step through the door.

            "I have no right being there," Zeero answered simply. "Go on before it is too late…"

            "Are you sure?"

            "…Riku, you said once before…that you opened your heart to the darkness for power right?"

            "Yeah."

            "What would you prefer? Having all the power in the world, but being unhappy? Or no powers at all, but being perfectly content?"

"What?"

"Never mind, it was a stupid question…"

            Riku paused for a moment, and then ran off to catch up with Yami and Darien. What did Zeero mean when he said he had no right being there?

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            "There's something up ahead!" said Yami. They had been running through the tunnel for who knows how long, and now they had just spotted a light up ahead.

            "I hope we're not too late," said Riku.

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            'Strange,' thought Zeero. 'I feel as though I want this world to die… Is it because I'm jealous of its innocence? Is it because my world, our world is…'

            "Zeero?" asked Rini, pulling on the demon's ears.

            "Huh?" asked Zeero, as he came back to reality. "Oops. Sorry… What's that?"

            Suddenly the Konig Wolf appeared in the throne room. The two princesses of the moon hid behind Zeero. Luna, Artemis, and Diana, the cats, also hid behind the fox-demon as well. Shadow was also there as well.

            'Why are they there?' thought Zeero. 'How did they? Oh no!'

            "Get in!" ordered Zeero as he lifted the two princesses into the Zoid. "Stay in there! Oh no… it's too late! Riku! Yami!"

            After getting Sailor Saturn and the three cats into the Konig Wolf, Zeero rushed towards the door. He stopped at the entrance though, and wouldn't take another step inside.

            "Riku! Yami," he yelled. "If you can hear me! Get out of there now!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Serena!" exclaimed Darien. The three had reached the core of the world. And there, right next to the dying heart, stood the queen. She turned and looked at them with sad eyes. Eyes that were lost in darkness and despair.

            "I see you've made it to the heart of this world, Keybearer," said Serena. "But now, it is too late…"

            Before anyone could more any further, the Heartless that was shaped as the bubble appeared behind her. It shot a beam straight through her body and left her with a dark hole that replaced her heart. As she collapsed onto the ground, the Heartless entered into the heart of Crystal Tokyo.

            The crystals that surrounded the room began to darken and turned into stone. The world was falling apart, literally!

            "We have to go," said Yami. "If we don't go then we'll be trapped here!"

            "Darien!" shouted Riku. "We have to leave!"

            "No," said the king softly. "I'll stay here. Until the end…"

            "But…"

            "Riku!" shouted Yami. "There's no time!"

            Riku hesitated for a moment, and then turned and fled with Yami. He hoped that they'd somehow be able to escape this place before the world collapsed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Riku!" yelled Zeero once more. "Yami! Get out of there!"

            This was bad; the whole place was beginning to fall apart. Zeero would have fallen into an abyss that had cracked underneath him if he had not leapt out of the way. Just now, a boulder was about to crush him, but he managed to dodge it.

            "Riku! Yami!" yelled Zeero once again. Then he spotted them, trying somehow not to get crushed under the rocks that were beginning to cave in on them. "Hurry up!"

            Once Riku and Yami got out of the doorway the entrance to the heart of Crystal Tokyo was seal up by rocks that had just fallen down. The trio scrambled to get into the Konig Wolf, while Shadow fused with the Zoid's core. The Konig Wolf was started up and they raced towards the world exit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "This is bad!" moaned Zeero. Even though they had made it past the world exit, Crystal Tokyo had now become a vortex and was trying to suck them into its darkness. "We're not going to make it! I can't die yet! I'm too young! I didn't even have any SAKE TODAY! WAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

            "Quit moaning!" shouted Riku. "I'm trying to concentrate!"

            The Konig Wolf, Sieg, was desperately trying to pull out of the vortex's grasp. With a howl and a little extra power from Shadow and its boosters, Sieg managed to get away from the vortex before it exploded. From a distance, the group looked at what used to be Crystal Tokyo, it was now and empty void of darkness…

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Akurei-Shinzo: That's all folks! See you later!


	22. Choices

Akurei-Shinzo: Next chapter…ooo so sleepy…

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Chapter 19: Choices

            "Don't worry Riku," said Zeero. "It could've been worse… I mean, at least we saved a few hearts from that world… Once you've completed your quest then everything should return to normal!"

            Riku had been upset ever since he had failed to save Crystal Tokyo, he had watched it's heart die right in front of his eyes. Nothing could make this guilt go away, not even Zeero's cheerful attitude.

            "I should have done something…" mustered Riku, not looking at Zeero.

            "You shouldn't blame yourself too much," replied Zeero. " You can't always control everything…"

            Just then a fifteen-year old boy ran up to them, he had dark raven-colored hair with several strands of hazel and had a pair of worried brown eyes.

            "You're the Keybearer right?" asked the boy.

            "Yeah," answered Riku.

            "Please come with me to the hospital," panted the boy. "I need your help!"

            "Go on Riku," said Zeero. "I have things I need to attend to…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            The boy, Takeru, lead Riku into a room where a boy about Takeru's age, was sitting in a chair, staring at the wall continuously without blinking. His name was Jie, he was Takeru's best friend and he had jet-black hair and his two blank eyes appeared to be lost…

            "He's been like that ever since we escaped our world…" said Takeru. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

            "No," answered Riku. "He's not like the other patients…there's no black hole…"

            "That's because he is in-between…"answered a dark voice.

            Riku and Takeru turned to see Kuro standing in the shadows, it seemed as though the demon had been watching them for some time…

            "What do you mean by, in-between?" asked Riku.

            "Simple," answered Kuro. "He is lost… His heart is still within him, but a terrible loss has made him fall into this condition…"

            "A terrible loss?"

            "A loss of a loved one? Something precious? His body is now an empty case, his mind is a lost soul, wandering around in the darkness, unaware if he should wake and face reality or if he should let the darkness take him…"

            "That's right," said Takeru. "He ended up in this condition when he saw the Heartless steal his little sister's heart…"

            "That's right," said Kuro. "Now, he may not wake until her heart returns…"

            "Isn't there a way we can contact him?" asked Riku. "Maybe we can talk him into waking up."

            "You can try," said Kuro. "But most likely it will not work…"

            "Why not?" asked Takeru.

            "The heart is a very complex…thing…Once it is broken, it is hard to repair… Farewell…"

            With that, Kuro leapt out of the window and disappeared into the shadows. Riku and Takeru stared out the open glass for a while and then turned their attention to Jie. He still hadn't moved or blinked.

            "Let me try to talk to him," said Riku. "Alone…"

            "…Alright…"

            As soon as Takeru closed the door, Riku's Keyblades appeared in his hands. A bright beam shot from the tips of the blades to Jie's heart. Suddenly Riku was consumed by darkness…

            "Where am I?" asked Riku. He looked around him and all he saw was darkness.

            "Gone…all gone…"muttered a voice.

            Riku turned around to see Jie, looking as though he was in a trace, stumbling about the darkness of his heart.

            "Are you Jie?" asked Riku.

            "Who are you?" asked Jie.

            "My name's Riku."

            "Leave me alone…"

            "I'm here to help you… Your friend, Takeru, he's worried about you…"

            "I don't care…I'm not going back…"

            "But…you can't let the darkness consume you! It'll…"

            "So what? At least I can be with her…"

            "I'm the Keybearer, I can help get your sister back! Look, I know you've been hurt, but you have to go on! Others have lost loved ones to the darkness too!"

            "I know…"

            "Then will you go back?"

            "No…"

            "But…"

            "Leave me alone…"

            "But…"

            "I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!"

            Riku was then jolted back into reality, despite trying to talk to Jie, he was still too consumed by darkness to return to the light. Kuro was right, once a heart was broken, it would be hard to repair. Then Riku noticed that Jie had something clutched in his hand, Riku carefully pulled out a disk from Jie's hand…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Hey," said Takeru, Riku had shown him the disk and they inserted into a computer. "It's the e-mails from that strange guy Jie had been talking to before our world disappeared!"

            "Who is that guy that sends Jie these e-mails?" asked Riku.

            "Who knows," replied Takeru. "But he's not from our world, that's what Jie said at least."

            "How would Jie know?"

            "He's great with computers, he can pinpoint anyone who chats with him, but this guy…He couldn't track him down. Let's read what this guy wrote…. How can Jie read this?! It's illegible!"

            "What sort of language is this?"

            "Not sure… I have to go back to my job now, delivery boys can't have long breaks. See ya!"

            Riku sat down in front of the screen and tried to make sense of the strange characters in the message. Then suddenly, a message popped up, this time Riku could read the letters.

            'Don't worry, there is still time… The darkness can still be defeated…'

            "What?" asked Riku.

            'Don't be afraid, I'm here to help…'

            "Who are you?"

            'My name is Akira, I cannot stay for long, otherwise my firewall will weaken. Communicating with other worlds weaken it.'

            "Firewall?" asked Riku, but the screen had gone blank. Just who was that person? And what did he mean by firewall? What does a firewall do anyways? Forget it what is a firewall?

            "He's right," said a voice. "There is still time…"

            Riku looked around and didn't see anyone. He got his Keyblades out and cautiously made his way around the room.

            "Who are you?" demanded Riku.

            "Someone who is linked to the end…"

            "Well, show yourself!"

            Riku sensed something behind him and he whirled around to see someone he hadn't expected to see…

            "It's you…" muttered Riku.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "You wanted to see me Daichi?" asked Zeero. He had gotten a telepathic message from Daichi to meet him near the door.

            "Zeero," said Daichi. "Yuri and the others have left already… What about you?"

            "I want to stay."

            "Are you sure? You're still not deeply involved in this, you can still avoid this fate…"

            "I've made my decision, don't worry!"

            "The Trinity and I both agree that you don't have to suffer this fate, you know what is at stake…"

            "But I can't just stand around while our world is going to be erased!"

            "Zeero, you know what may happen…"

            "But that fate can be avoided…Shiro said…"

            "Things have changed…that fate can no longer be avoided…"

            "You mean…"

            "Yes…"

            "…But…that means…if I stay…"

            "Correct."

            "I can't do that…but I can't just leave!"

            "Why not?"

            "I…I…"

            "Zeero, are you sure you want this fate?"

            "I don't…I don't really know…what I want…the darkness is starting to take its effect…"

            "And once it gets a hold on you, your very existence could be lost…"

            "…I…"

            "The choice is yours Zeero, leave now while you still can, or be tied to the end…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "It's you," said Riku. It was the demon from his dream, Shiro… 

            "Yes…" answered the half-demon.

            "Shiro…"

            "What is it you are trying to do?"

            "Huh?"

            "What is your goal? The dream you are trying to make a reality?"

            "I'm sorry, but I don't understand…"

            "The Keybearer, the one who brings salvation, or the one who brings destruction. Which one are you?"

            "I'm not sure anymore… It seems as though the only thing I can do is destroy…"

            "I'm not talking about what you can do or can't, I'm asking you what do you want to do."

            "I…I'm not sure anymore…"

            "If you chose to be the one who brings salvation, can you face the enemy that awaits you?"

            "Enemy?"

            "Yes, an enemy you fear to fight…"

            "Who is this enemy?"

            "They have been around you since the beginning, but they have not shown themselves to the real world, yet…"

            "Who are they?"

            "It is not time for you to know that… If you do, you may not fulfill your quest… What is it you want to do? Who is it you want to protect?"

            "I want… I want to…help my friends Sora and Kairi…I want them to know that…I'm sorry…"

            "Then your path is set, I wish you good luck…"

            "Wait, why can't you tell me who the enemy is?"

            "I cannot say, if I do, then there may be no hope at all…no hope at all…"

            With that, Shiro vanished, leaving Riku behind very confused.

            'The enemy I fear to fight…'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Zeero stood alone in front of the door, he knew that once he stepped through it, he could not return. He extended his and, but then took it back. Zeero lowered his ears and whined.

            "What do I do?"

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Akurei-Shinzo: Please R&R!


	23. Strange…

AkureiShinzo: Finally, I get to write again! Sorry it took…o forget it! I don't own KH or several of the animes in this fic. Please R&R!

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Chapter 20: Strange…

            "What do I do?" asked Zeero to himself as he stared at the world gate. "What am I suppose to do?! If I leave I…"

            Zeero began to pace around in circles, what was he to do? He knew the circumstances surrounding Sonraku, but wasn't there another way they could settle this? No, this was the only was, if Sonraku was to remain this way… Even if the Heartless were defeated Sonraku would never be the same again, not if they let it remain this way.

            "Sigh," muttered Zeero as he sat down onto the ground. "Zeero thinks his brain was not meant for such stress…"

            "I didn't even know you had one," said a voice.

            "Very funny Zen! For your information I do have a brain! Though I don't use it very often, but I still have one! So there!"

            "Strange isn't Zen," said Sin. "He's not a fighter, yet he's considering to fight the …"

            "You're useless," said Zen. "So leave! You'll cause less trouble for everyone."

            "I…I…."

            "You know what you are… you don't have to…"

            "I'm going to stay!"

            " Then you'll have to fight me first…"

            "?!"

            "If you can manage to hit me once, then you'll be deemed worthy… Although I highly doubt it…"

            "…"

            Riku joined up with Yami once again and the two of them began to search for Zeero. Where that demon had run off to they didn't know. Suddenly, they saw a group of people surrounding the area near the world gate. They rushed over to see what was going on.

            "Zeero!" cried out Riku as he saw his friend thrown against the wall.

            Zeero slammed into the wall and slid down into a trashcan. When his head popped back up, his eyes were two swirls and he had a banana peel on top of his head. He shook it off and, with some difficulty, got out of the trashcan.

            "Is that the best you can do?" asked Zen, in a bored tone. "This is such a shame…"

            Zeero let out a low growl and started to transform into his demon form, Zen gave a smirk.

            "Now things are getting a bit more interesting…"

            A shadow surrounded Zen, and when it cleared, Zen the Devil Fox showed his true form, an eight-tailed kitsune! Zeero, in his demon form charged at Zen and tried to get a swipe at his, Zen just moved to the right and Zeero missed him by a few inches. Zeero crash landed onto the ground and slid into a lamppost. Slowly, he got up and shook his head.

            "Zeero's too inexperienced to fight against Zen," mutter Sin. "I don't even know why he's even trying…"

            "What are you talking about?" demanded Riku.

            "You haven't noticed that our kind has already left this place?"

            "Your kind?"

            "The hearts of Sonraku are leaving, in case you haven't noticed…"

            "Why? Why are you all leaving?"

            "You'd understand if… you don't need to know…"

            "Know what?"

            "About the Plague…"

            "The Plague?"

            There conversation came to a sudden stop when Zeero once again charged at Zen and leapt towards him. Zen leapt up and knocked Zeero back. Zeero landed with a thud and tons of new bruises.

            "Zeero!" called out Riku.

            "Get up!" yelled Yami.

            'Yes, Zeero,' said Zen telepathically to Zeero. 'If you think you can…'

            Zeero charged Zen and Zen once again moved over to the right, making Zeero fall back on the ground again. But as Zen turned to face Zeero, blood suddenly came out of his right foreleg! Across his foreleg was a set of claw marks…

            "What?!" exclaimed Sin in surprise.

            'That idiot,' thought Zen. 'He couldn't have done this on purpose, there is no way he could have predicted my movement!'

            Zeero got up and then fell back down as he slipped on a banana peel. Zen was still in shock that such an idiot managed to get a hit on him! How could this have happened!? It had to be dumb luck! That stupid kitsune!

            Just then Zeero came to his senses and tackled Zen to the ground, but Zen easily regained his balance and pinned the squirming five-tailed fox-demon to the ground. Then Zen returned to his half-demon form and walked towards Sin, leaving a very battered up Zeero on the ground, twitching.

            "Let's go," said Zen as he and Sin began to walk away.

            "Huh? What's…?" asked Riku.

            "A deal's a deal," replied Zen.

            "Zeero," said Riku. "Are you okay?"

            "Oh, I'm fine," answered Zeero. "But I don't know about Zeero…"

            "Need a hand?" asked a new voice. Riku and Yami looked around there surroundings, but saw no one. "Up here."

            They looked up to see a sixteen-year old boy, with silver hair tied back into a ponytail. The most astonishing feature the guy had were the two wings on his back. They were silver, bird-like wings that shone brightly in the night. The guy also had a golden ring that floated a few inches above his head, but it seemed to be slanted a bit…

            "My name's Akio," said the boy as he floated down. "You must be the Keyblade Master."

            "I…" stuttered Riku. "I, I think so…"

            "What do you mean? Never mind, here, let me help your friend."

            Akio knelt down and held his hands over Zeero, they glowed with a silver aura for a moment and when the light vanished, Zeero was completely healed!

            "Thanks!" chirped Zeero in his usual silly manner.

            "No problem," replied Akio. "By the way, are you guys planning to travel to the other worlds any time soon?"

            "Uh… yeah," answered Riku. "I suppose…"

            "Then you should check out this strange world, I'll mark it on your map. You might need this as well to get there."

            Riku received a heart gem from Akio.

            "Are you still in doubt?" asked the angel.

            "What do you mean?" asked Riku.

            "About who you are… You think that because of what you had done, who you were in the past…"

            "…I…"

            "There is no need to worry. You are not the only one with this doubt. You have both the potential to destroy and save, so what will it be?"

            "I…want to restore…everything to the way it was… I want to help my friends… I want them to forgive…"

            "There is no heart without darkness…just as there is no darkness without light…"

            "There is so much I don't understand…"

            "(smiles) Don't worry about it too much, you'll give yourself a headache!"

            "I don't understand…the reason for all of this…"

            "Just because you don't know the reason of something… doesn't necessarily mean that the reason isn't there…"

"I guess…"

"Well, good luck! I will be seeing you around I suppose…"

Akio spread his wings out and flew off into the night sky. Riku and the others stared after the angel as he disappeared into the darkness. A feather floated down, and Riku caught it in his hand, how strange, it was as if this feather was giving him something he hadn't felt in a long time…hope…

            "There are so many different people here…"mumbled Riku.

            "Zeero," said Yami. "I think you've had enough sake for one day…"

            "But this is only the twentieth bottle…"

            "Hand it over…"

            "No… (begins to chug down the rest of the sake)"

            "ZEERO!"

            "IT'S MINE! GET YOUR OWN!"

            "Oh boy," sighed Riku, he started up Sieg and they took off in the wolf-type Zoid.

            After what seemed like hours, the strange world Akio had spoke of came into view. It looked like sphere that had been chewed up by worms, little by little, until it slowly came into ruin.

            "What kind of a place is this?" asked Yami.

            "I'm not sure…" answered Riku. "Let's go down and see."

            Both Riku and Yami were too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with this world to notice Zeero looking a bit strange. The look of pure terror was on his face, he was quivering in his seat.

            'Oh no…' thought the fox-demon.

            Finally, they landed on this strange world, but it was very hard to since this world was so badly rotted. The trio got out of the Zoid and looked about their surroundings. Now that they had a chance to get a gook look of this world up close, they noticed that this world was indeed very strange. The buildings looked as though they had been through an earthquake, some of the buildings were see through, others were like images on a broken television set.

            "What is this place?" asked Riku.

            "A broken world…" said Zeero in a drunken tone. "A fragment of what it once was…."

            "Zeero?" asked Yami as he and Riku turned to face him. "Are you alright?"

            "To think that you've actually found one… my, it looks very interesting, doesn't it?"

            "I think you've had one too many bottles of sake, Zeero," said Riku.

            "This world does many strange things to hearts, did you know? That is because this world…it is not a whole…"

            "Huh?"

            "It is broken, it has fragmented a long time ago… Along with the hearts that had lived with it… Now the souls wonder around worlds like this, lost… Those who are not fully whole, will have strange things happen to them when they are in such worlds…"

            "What do you mean that this world is broken!?" asked Riku.

            "The Plague," muttered Zeero, who looked at the sky like a drunkard. "The Plague must have struck here as well…"

            "What is… the Plague?" asked Yami.

            Even though Riku and Yami knew that Zeero had drunk a lot on their journey to this world, they could see clearly that something was not right. The fox-demon was not acting normally. Was what he saying about this world true? Zeero turned his back to them and hunched his back as though he was a hunchback. Riku reached out his hand.

            "Zeero…" he said as he reached out his hand. "Are you…"

            "Don't touch me!" snapped Zeero as he whirled around suddenly.

            He glared at the two of them; Riku noticed that Zeero's kind eyes were replaced with those of a monster's. Just like before… at the Coliseum… But after a few seconds, Zeero's eyes changed, not back into their original, kind look, but into a daze kind of look, as though he was in a trance.

            "You should explore this place some more," muttered Zeero, walking away slowly with his head facing the ground. "You may find something…very interesting… I need more sake…sake…"

            "I'm getting worried about, Zeero," said Yami. "Something isn't right…"

            "Yeah," agreed Riku. "Something's really isn't right here…"

_Remember this advice Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…_

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Akurei-Shinzo: Wonder what's up with Zeero… To find out, keep on reading!

Next Chapter Preview: As Riku and Yami wonder around this strange world, they come across a young girl, who was chained to a cross. But something else seems to have found this strange girl as well, and it seems that it does not wish for her awakening! Next chapter: Ai…

_            She is my love and joy, my treasure…my light…My child, my sweet child…If only if there was a cure for this accursed Plague…then…just maybe…just maybe…_

                                                                                          -Herz


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